


Trading Places

by Redjay27



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, I didn't do it on purpose, I promise, M/M, Multi POV, Shenanigans, Slow Burn, Swearing, That body swap AU no one asked for but everyone wants, The agnst just slips in while I'm not looking, but it's pretty light agnst, okay?, plot twist: it's not as lighthearted as I originally intended, this is supposed to be super lighthearted
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-14
Updated: 2018-09-09
Packaged: 2018-12-15 02:40:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 51,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11796714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Redjay27/pseuds/Redjay27
Summary: “Keith?” Lance asked, still a little surprised that the voice coming out of his mouth wasn’t his own. Lance saw himself turn abruptly at the sound of his name.“Lance?” He heard himself...er...Keith say. “Why are you me? What the fuck is going on?”“Why would I know?” Lance replied defensively. “I just woke up like this!”“Well switch it back!” Keith yelled.“How am I supposed to do that?!” He shouted back.





	1. Woke Up Like This

Lance opened his eyes to the sound of his alarm going off. He yawned and swung his arm towards the source of the sound. It took him a few tries but eventually he managed to hit the off button on the device situated on the nightstand next to his bed. He stretched his arms and opened his eyes. 

 

He had expected to see blackness, not yet having removed the sleeping mask from his eyes. Instead he was surprised at the sudden brightness that infiltrated his vision. He blinked rapidly, trying to get used to the light. He briefly wondered what had happened to his sleeping mask but eventually shrugged it off. It had probably just fallen off, no big deal. 

 

Lance sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed, still feeling like he could sleep for another hour or two. He stood up on shaky legs and it took him a minute to catch his balance. He felt his hair on his forehead which was unusual. He swept it away with one hand only to have it fall back where it had just been. That was annoying. He was gonna have to give himself a haircut. 

 

Lance shrugged to himself, deciding to put that off until later. For now he had to get moving. Breakfast would be served soon and the team had a big day ahead of them. Lance walked the short distance to the bathroom connected to his room. Without looking at the mirror, Lance turned the handle of the faucet and splashed water on his face to wake himself up. Feeling refreshed and more awake Lance straightened his shoulders and looked in the mirror. 

 

The scream he let out was not his voice. It was rougher and deeper pitched than his own.  But his voice did match the face that was staring back at him. Lance stood frozen in shock, staring at the mirror and trying to make sense of the situation. He saw raven black hair that fell across his forehead softly. He saw dark eyes that were nowhere near the shade of blue he was used to. He saw pale skin that was hues away from his normal tan. He blinked a few times, trying to wake up from the nightmare he had found himself in. The face in the mirror didn’t change. 

 

He lifted a hand up gingerly to his face, touching the locks of hair that was not his own. They felt soft and thick. Definitely not his hair. Lance braced himself against the sink, feeling bile rising in his throat. He didn’t know what was going on but he had somehow turned into Keith. Terror wracked his insides, causing his breath to become somewhat labored. 

 

What the fuck was happening?

 

Lance didn’t have time to try to figure it out before he heard his own voice yell from the room next to his- no, Keith’s room. Giving one last glance at Keith in the mirror, Lance left the bathroom and headed to his own room quickly. 

 

The door to his room slid open and he saw himself standing in front of the bathroom sink, looking at the mirror just as he had been doing moments ago. 

 

“Keith?” Lance asked, still a little surprised that the voice coming out of his mouth wasn’t his own. Lance saw himself turn abruptly at the sound of his name. 

 

“Lance?” He heard himself...er...Keith say. “Why are you me? What the fuck is going on?” 

 

“Why would I know?” Lance replied defensively. “I just woke up like this!” 

 

“Well switch it back!” Keith yelled. 

 

“How am I supposed to do that?!” He shouted back. 

 

Keith didn’t respond for a moment, thinking hard. Suddenly he looked up and said, “It was probably caused by some sort of magic…”

 

“Allura!” Lance said loudly, realization dawning on him. “She might know what’s going on!” 

 

Keith nodded and said, “Let’s go find her.” 

 

The two ran from the room, still both in their pajamas. Lance and Keith raced through the halls of the castle towards the dining room. Lance pushed Keith’s legs as hard as they’d go and was slightly irritated that he felt like he had to work twice as hard to keep up with himself. 

 

“Why are you so short?” He asked Keith as they ran through the halls.

 

“I’m sorry I can’t control my genetics.” Keith replied sarcastically. 

 

Lance huffed but before he could respond the two rounded the corner into the dining room. Lance saw Allura, Shiro, and Pidge seated at the table already, enjoying a nice breakfast of food goo. They all looked startled as Keith and Lance burst into the room. 

 

“Allura!” Lance shouted frantically. “I’m Keith!” 

 

What? That was not what he meant to say. He had meant to say he was Lance. He tried again, ignoring the confused looks of the trio sitting at the table. 

 

“No, I mean that I’m  _ Keith _ !” Why couldn’t he tell them who he was?

 

“I...know?” Allura said, tilting her head slightly. 

 

Keith spoke up finally, trying to explain. “No, what he means is that he’s Keith and I’m Lance.” Lance watched as the expression on his face twisted into one of confusion. He looked at Lance and said. “I’m  _ Lance _ .”

 

“I’m Keith.” Lance responded, desperately trying to say his own name. 

 

“I’m Lance!”

 

“I’m Keith!” 

 

The two were practically yelling at each other now, both becoming more desperate. 

 

“Guys!” Shiro yelled, trying to get the attention of the two paladins. Lance looked at Shiro in surprise. He didn’t raise his voice often so when he did Lance felt like he was being scolded. 

 

“Are you guys on drugs or something?” Pidge asked from where they were seated, sounding more amused than confused. 

 

“What? No!” Lance said, frustrated. “Why can’t I say what I mean?” He looked at himself for an answer but Keith just shook his head, unsure himself. 

 

“I’m confused.” Allura said. “Is this some sort of human thing?” 

 

Lance heard Pidge let out a laugh before saying, “No, this is what you call being high.” 

 

“This is useless.” Lance heard himself say before turning and leaving the room. Lance glanced back at the three people staring at him, feeling slightly irritated himself, before following Keith out of the room. 

 

\-----

 

Keith paced back and forth in Lance’s room, deep in thought. He tried to not look at himself sitting on the bed, watching him walk back and forth. He also tried not to think about how tall he felt right now. He felt like his limbs just kept going on forever. It was a weird sensation that he was not used to. He felt gangly and unbalanced. He couldn’t believe Lance felt like this all the time. 

 

“Maybe it was something we ate.” He heard himself say from the bed. 

 

He shook his head. He’d already considered that possibility. “Then why wasn’t everyone else affected?” 

 

“Okay, then maybe it’s a virus or something from a planet we visited.” Lance suggested. 

 

“Hmm...maybe. We have had a lot of diplomatic missions lately because of the alliance. But there’s no way to know for sure.” 

 

“Which means we have no idea how long it’ll last or how to get rid of it.” Lance said, sounding devastated. Keith stopped pacing and looked at himself still sitting on the bed. 

 

“I think until we figure out what’s going on we should pretend that everything’s normal.” 

 

“You mean, like, I pretend to be you and you pretend to be me?” Lance asked. Keith nodded in return. “Why?”

 

“Because for whatever reason we can’t tell anyone what’s really going on and in case you missed it the others probably think we’re going insane. If we act like everything's normal than we have a greater chance of figuring out what’s going on.”

 

“I don’t know…” Lance said uncertainly. “I mean the chances of us figuring out what’s going on isn’t very good. Having Pidge, Coran, or Allura helping us might make it easier to get things back to normal.” 

 

“I agree.” Keith said. “But we still don’t know how to tell them. So...why don’t we pretend everything’s normal until we can figure out a way to tell them?”

 

“I don’t like it...but alright.” Lance said. “I just have to learn how to be moody and brood all the time. No problem.” 

 

“I do not brood.” Keith said sharply. 

 

“I do not brood.” Lance copied, crossing his arms over his chest for emphasis. “Oh, I’m good at this. Do another.” Lance said excitedly. 

 

“Lance, please be serious.” Keith said, rolling his eyes at Lance’s goofiness. 

 

“Lance, please be serious.” Lance said and Keith watched in irritation as he rolled his eyes. 

 

“This is officially going to be worst day of my life.” Keith said, annoyed. Out of nowhere a new thought popped into his head that replaced his annoyance with anxiety. “Hey, don’t we have that galra base mission today?”

 

He watched as the expression on his face turned to one of panic, his eyes growing wide and his jaw clenching. “Oh shit…”

 

“Paladins!” Allura’s voice called over the intercom. “Please report to the bridge as soon as possible for a debriefing about the mission today.”

 

As the intercom went dead Keith felt his stomach twist and his palms start to sweat. He had to go a whole mission acting like Lance? Why did it have to be Lance? His personality was the complete opposite of his own. Lance looked just as nervous as he felt. 

 

“We can do this.” Keith said unconvincingly. “It’ll be easy. We’ll just take it one step at a time. Let’s start with getting dressed.”  

 

\-----

 

Fifteen minutes later Keith stood out in the hall feeling overheated and annoyed. What was taking Lance so long? It wasn’t like he wore clothes that were complicated to put on. It took him five minutes to get ready in the morning. 

 

To his relief, he finally saw the door to his room open and saw himself step out into the hallway. “Why do you wear like a bajillion pouches?” Lance asked, clearly annoyed himself. 

 

“I wear two.” Keith replied flatly. “And it’s because my pants don’t have pockets.”

 

“Also, what are these for?” Lance held up his hands, wiggling his fingers in Keith’s face. “They seem pointless and make my hands sweaty.” 

 

Keith sighed. “The gloves are good for gripping things and I  _ like  _ them so deal with it. Besides, you have no room to talk. Why the hell do you wear a long sleeve shirt  _ and  _ a heavy jacket? I feel like I’m burning up.”

 

“Oh I’m sorry but we can’t all be walking furnaces!” Lance spit at Keith. “Plus, I look good in that jacket so you better keep it in good shape.” 

 

“I’ll do my best.” Keith said sarcastically. 

 

“Promise me.” Lance said seriously.

 

“What?” Keith asked, a little surprised. 

 

“Promise me that you won’t let anything happen to my jacket.” Lance explained, locking his gaze with Keith’s. 

 

“O-okay.” Keith said, confused by Lance’s unexpected seriousness. “I promise.”

 

“Good.” Lance said lightly, his demeanor changing back to his normal nonchalant self. “Let’s go meet the others before they come looking for us.” He said, turning on his heel and walking away from Keith and towards the bridge. 

 

“What the hell was that?” Keith muttered to himself before following Lance down the hall. Keith had a feeling that this was going to be a very long day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!  
> A couple things you should know going into this fic:  
> 1) I have no idea how long it's going to be but as soon as I know I'll let you know.  
> 2) I'm hoping to post as least twice a week. I'm not sure if that's a realistic goal with school starting but I'm gonna try my damnedest to stick with it.  
> 3) Any and all feedback you are willing to give me throughout this entire fic is greatly appreciated.  
> If you have and questions about this fic or just want to scream at me about Voltron you can find me on tumblr @canyoufeelthelagnsttonight  
> Stay safe and I'll see ya next time!
> 
> ~Redjay


	2. Playing the Part

Lance arrived on the bridge, noticing that everyone else was already there. Allura and Shiro stood in the center of the room, looking at a monitor and discussing something Lance couldn’t hear. Hunk and Pidge were both seated in their respective seats. Pidge was messing with some device and Hunk was taping the console in front of him with a serious face. Coran stood in the front of the room, arms folded behind his back, looking up at the screen that was currently displaying the galra base they were headed to later that day. 

 

Pidge looked up from the device in their hands as Lance and Keith entered the room. “Did you guys come down from your high yet?” They called in a mocking tone. 

 

“We weren’t high.” Lance replied, doing his best to sound moody. Keith always sounded moody. 

 

“Okay, sure.” Pidge said with a laugh. Lance decided not to reply and headed for the red chair. 

 

“Uh...Keith?” Lance heard himself say. He wouldn’t have responded to the name at all if it hadn’t been his own voice saying it. 

 

“Hmm?”

 

“That’s...uh...my chair.” Keith said somewhat quietly. 

 

“Oh!” Lance said, feeling his face grow a little hot. Not even two minutes in and he had already fucked up. “R-right. Yeah...I’ll just…” Lance turned quickly and headed for the black chair in the front of the room. 

 

“Not high my ass!” Pidge called with a snort. 

 

“Language!” Shiro said without looking away from the monitor. 

 

Lance sat down slowly, feeling hesitant. He’d never sat in the black paladin’s chair before and he had to remind himself that it wasn’t technically him sitting in the chair; it was Keith. Lance glanced over his shoulder at Keith who was seated in the red chair, looking too tense. He was sitting like Keith would sit, not Lance. 

 

With his right hand Lance signaled to Keith to relax. He saw himself nod in response and watch as his shoulders visibly relaxed and he slid further down in the seat. Lance shot him a thumbs up before turning back around. 

 

“Okay, everyone.” Allura said, breaking off her conversation with Shiro. “As you all know we’re headed to a galra base today. The Blade of Marmora has asked us to shut down the base and since they are a bit stretched thin at the moment Keith, Shiro, and I have decided to give them a hand. They sent us their intel on the base. Coran?”

 

“Right. Okay.” Coran tapped a few things on his monitor and the large screen displayed information that Lance found much easier to read now that he was up close. Being the team leader had it’s perks apparently. “This base is about as well protected as the other ones we’ve visited and lucky for us it works just the same. You’ll need to get to the main control room and shut down the power. Once that’s done all of the sentries will be disabled and just like that you’ve got the base!” 

 

“Sounds simple enough.” Hunk said. 

 

“Well…” Coran replied. “There is one problem.” He tapped his console a few times before a new picture appeared. Lance stared at the unfamiliar galra face displayed on the screen. “This is Commander Kivlak. He’s a rather nasty galra if I do say so myself. It’s rumored that he’s conquered more planets than any other galra commander.”

 

“Lovely.” Lance muttered under his breath. 

 

“Since I still can’t pilot the black lion, I’ll stay behind and provide support with Coran.” Shiro said. “Keith, you’ll lead this mission.” 

 

Lance felt his blood run cold. Him? Lead a mission? He’d never lead a mission before. This pretending to be Keith thing was a lot harder than he had originally expected.

 

“So Keith, what’s the plan?” Pidge asked. 

 

Lance could feel his hands start to shake. They were all waiting for him to respond and Lance didn’t know what to say. To buy himself some time he stood up to face the rest of the room. He glanced at Keith who had a sly smirk on his face. He was enjoying this! He would just love to watch Lance fail at leading! Well, sorry Keith, that wasn’t happening today.

 

Lance straightened his shoulders in the most Keith way he could and cleared his throat. “If this Kivlak guy is as bad as we think then it’s probably best to go in under the radar. I propose two teams. Team one will be distraction. Hunk and Allura will attack the base head on and draw the fighters out. Coran can back them up with the castle’s defenses. Team two will be Ke-Lance and I. We’ll use the green lion and it’s cloaking ability to get us close enough to get inside without being detected. Once we’re in, Pidge can help Hunk and Allura with the distraction.” 

 

Lance glanced around the room, staring at the faces of his team and hoping that it was a decent plan. He thought it was. The team, including Keith, stared at him with blank looks. 

 

“Why is nobody saying anything?” He finally asked. 

 

Pidge was the first to speak. “Who are you and what’ve you done with Keith?” They had their eyes narrowed at Lance. 

 

“W-what? I-I mean I am Keith…” Lance stuttered. 

 

“Oh yeah? Keith never comes up with plans as good as that one.” Pidge replied suspiciously. “Usually we just rush in guns blazing.”

 

Lance felt a swell of pride and did his best not to glance at Keith who no doubt was fuming.

 

“C’mon, Pidge.” Shiro said. “Keith has really grown as a leader these last few weeks. Give him a break.” Pidge didn’t say anything but crossed their arms and gave Lance a curious look. Lance decided to change the subject. 

 

“Get ready, guys.” Lance said. “We leave in an hour.”

 

With the debriefing done everyone stood up and started attending to the preparations. Lance smiled privately to himself, feeling rather proud. Take that, Keith. Lance could be a great leader. 

 

“Keith!” Shiro called and Lance turned around, getting used to responding to the name. “Let’s talk for a moment.”

 

Lance nodded and followed Shiro out into the hall. “What’s up?” Lance asked, crossing his arms and shifting his weight to his right foot like he’d seen Keith do a number of times. 

 

“I just wanted to say how proud I am at how far you’ve come as a leader. I can tell you put a lot of thought into that plan you came up with. You put the team’s safety first instead of just rushing in. I know thinking things through hasn’t always been your strong suit but you’ve really grown into a strong leader.” Shiro placed a hand on Lance’s shoulder, a proud smile on his face. 

 

Lance didn’t know what to say. He knew that this talk was meant for Keith, not him. Shiro had never spoken to Lance like this before and he felt a certain ache in his chest. If only Shiro knew that he had come up with the plan and not Keith then things would be different. But Lance couldn’t tell him. The words wouldn’t form on his tongue. Instead, Lance nodded his head and simply said, “Thanks, Shiro.” 

 

\-----

 

Keith saw himself reappear on the bridge and he rushed over to him. He had been slightly impressed with Lance’s plan. He would never tell him that, though. Part of him wanted to see Lance fail at leading if only to prove a point that it wasn’t as easy as it looked. He should’ve known that Lance would be a natural at it. He had a weird ability to step up when put under pressure.

 

“We need to talk.” Keith said, dragging Lance back out into the hall. 

 

“Did I do something wrong?” Lance asked, an odd tone to his voice. 

 

“No.” Keith said. “But how’re we supposed fly the lions or use our bayards?”

 

Lance smirked and said, “Silly, Keith. Didn’t you notice?”

 

“Notice what?” Keith asked. He had no idea how Lance could be so calm. 

 

“Man, you’re as oblivious as always.” Lance said with a laugh. “I purposefully made it so neither of us had to pilot a lion on this mission. Also, no one will see us with our bayards because we’ll be the only two people in the base.” Lance beamed at Keith with pride, a look that didn’t belong on Keith’s face. 

 

Keith once again found himself slightly impressed with Lance. He’d known that Lance had always been the better strategist but he hadn’t realized how good he actually was. 

 

“Oh…” Keith said lamely. “Okay then.” 

 

“Anyway,” Lance said, “I think we can both agree that I am awesome at playing you. I mean, I was spot on.” 

 

Keith rolled his eyes and said, “Yeah, except for the part where Pidge called you out for not acting like me.”

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Lance said dismissively. “My point is that you, however, suck at playing me.”

 

“What’re you talking about?” Keith asked, irritated. “All I had to do was sit in a chair and listen.”

 

“Yeah, that’s something you would do, not me. There was like five opportunities for puns during that debriefing and you didn’t say a single one. That’s not like me at all.” Lance replied. “I think you need to go to Lance school.”

 

“Do I even want to know what that is?” Keith said flatly. 

 

“Doesn’t matter, I’m gonna tell you anyway. I’d say we’ve got about forty-five minutes until we leave so I’m gonna give you a crash course on being me.” 

 

“I’m not going to lie to you, Lance. I would literally rather do anything else.” 

 

Lance clicked his tongue disapprovingly at Keith. “If you want others to notice something weird going on then by all means, go ahead and leave. But if not then you gotta learn how to play the part.”

 

Keith already knew that playing Lance was going to be a nightmare for him. But he also knew that it was important to be convincing. Keith sighed, feeling defeated, and said, “Alright, fine. Teach me how to be you.”

 

\-----

 

Pidge was on their way to the green lion’s hanger to make sure the cloaking device was functioning properly. It had been a fairly weird day in the castle with Keith and Lance losing their minds and Pidge hoped that this mission wouldn’t be affected by the weird behavior of the two. 

 

“No, no, no. You have to snap  _ before _ you do the finger guns. Snapping after doesn’t make any sense.” 

 

Pidge stopped as they heard Keith’s voice from the room they had been walking past. 

 

“Why even snap at all? Why not just do the finger guns?” Pidge heard Lance say back to Keith, sounding a little annoyed. 

 

“I don’t know! It’s just the way it’s done.” Keith replied, sounding frustrated himself.

 

Pidge had known Lance a long time and had seen him do fingers guns more times than they cared to count. He always snapped before the finger guns. So why would he be arguing about it now? With Keith of all people?

 

Pidge, curiosity getting the better of them, opened the door and stepped into the room. “What’re you guys doing?” They asked. 

 

Keith and Lance stood frozen in the middle of the lounge, staring at Pidge like they were a ghost. 

 

“Uh…” Lance said. “We were just…” His eyes shifted to Keith. 

 

“Just...talking about the mission.” Keith finished, speaking too quickly to be deemed normal. 

 

Pidge tilted their head to the side in confusion. “What does finger guns have to do with the mission?”

 

“Um...in case we see any hot galra?” Lance suggested, his words sounding a little strained. 

 

“Lance, I thought that you had enough decency to not flirt with the enemy.” Pidge said dryly. “Apparently, I was wrong.”

 

Lance let out a forced laugh, rubbing the back of his head, clearly embarrassed. “You know me...just attracted to anything on two legs…” Pidge saw Keith shoot Lance an irritated look which wasn’t unusual for Keith but seemed a little out of place. 

 

“...right.” Pidge said slowly. “I’m gonna leave now because you guys clearly have something going on and I really don’t think I want to know what it is.” Pidge backed out of the room, leaving Keith and Lance to their bizarre conversation. 

 

“This place just keeps getting weirder and weirder...” They mumbled to themselves as they continued on their way towards the hanger. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!  
> Any and all feedback you are willing and able to give is greatly appreciated.   
> Stay safe and I'll see ya next time!
> 
> ~Redjay


	3. Best Laid Plans

Lance stood behind Pidge who was seated in the green lion’s pilot chair. Keith stood next to him, looking at the galra base they were approaching. Lance could feel the usual tension twist in his stomach before a fight. He did his best to relax his shoulders and breathe regularly but the anxiety wasn’t so easily defeated.

 

He felt weird dressed in the red paladin armor, like he was too easy to spot. He would’ve much preferred to be in his normal blue armor, but Lance knew that explaining that to the others was a conversation he would rather avoid at this point. In his right hand he clutched the black bayard. It felt heavy, the weight of leadership accompanying it. Lance felt small holding it, an unworthy weight settling on his shoulders. He glanced down at it, swallowing hard at the thought of what came with holding that bayard. He had to keep reminding himself that it was a good plan and it was going to work.

 

“Okay, Hunk, Allura. We’re in position to start our approach.” Pidge said over the comm.

 

“Roger.” Hunk’s voice said back. “We’ll start the distraction.”

 

“Good luck, guys.” Allura said, a tense note to her voice as well. “And be careful.”

 

“You got it.” Lance replied, trying his best to sound like a leader.

 

“Okay, guys.” Pidge said. “I’m taking you down.” Pidge shifted their controls and Lance felt the green lion dive towards the base.

 

Lance wasn’t surprised to hear alarms start to sound from the base. Hunk and Allura had started their attack. Fighters started to launch from the base, no doubt headed towards the yellow and blue lions. Pidge flew the green lion towards the back of the base.

 

“Okay, I’ve got the drop point in sight.” They said. “When you’re inside all you’ll need to do is find the control room. It should be close to the drop point. Got it?”

 

“This isn’t our first rodeo, Pidge. We got it.” Keith said, sounding surprisingly relaxed and light. Lance looked at himself, slightly surprised that for the first time he was seeing himself acting like himself, not like Keith. Lance guessed that crash course had worked a little at least. They just had to make it through this mission and then they could start looking into what caused them to switch bodies in the first place. Lance wasn’t entirely convinced the others weren’t playing some elaborate prank on them.

 

Lance shook his head, trying to clear his mind of his worries and focus on the mission at hand. He found himself becoming slightly irritated when Keith’s bangs fell in front of his face. If they didn’t change back soon, Lance was going to give Keith’s hair a much needed cut, no matter if Keith liked it or not.

 

“Get ready, guys.” Pidge said. Lance watched as Pidge set the green lion down next to the base. Lance held his breath as he watched the lookout towers, waiting for some sort of alarm to go off at their arrival.

 

Nothing happened.

 

“Let’s go.” Lance said, tapping Pidge on the shoulder once in a sign of thanks. “We’ll let you know when we’re ready for extraction.”

 

“Sounds good.” Pidge said without turning around, their eyes focused on the monitor in front of them.

 

Lance looked at Keith with a nod and the two exited the green lion. It was a short run from the lion to the base. Lance led the way, his head on a swivel. As the two ran they could hear the green lion take off behind them, no doubt heading over to help Hunk and Allura.

 

“You’re up.” Lance said once they reached the back wall of the base. Keith nodded at Lance, a serious look on his face, before pulling out the red bayard. It was a weird sight for Lance; he’d always had his blaster in his hands but now he was brandishing a sword. With a jerk of his arm, Keith shoved the red sword into the metal of the building and cut a hole big enough for them to fit through.

 

“Why do my arms hurt already?” Lance heard Keith ask, his breathing slightly labored.

 

Lance scoffed at him. “Those are my arms in case you forgot.” Lance ducked inside the hole and entered the base.

 

“Fine.” Keith responded, following Lance through the hole. “Why do your arms hurt already? Do you ever train?”

 

Lance couldn’t help but roll his eyes at Keith who was rolling his shoulders in an attempt to loosen his arm muscles. “Of course I do, dummy. But in case you forgot, I don’t train with a _sword_.”

 

“So?” Keith replied. “You still use your arms to hold your blaster.”

 

“Yeah but there’s a huge difference between swinging a sword and holding a blaster.”

 

“Okay, so what muscles do you have?” Keith asked, a tone of annoyance in his voice.

 

Lance held up his left hand for Keith to see, wiggling his fingers for flare. “Finger muscles. Lots of trigger pulling and whatnot.” He felt a sly smile creep onto his face, slightly amused as Keith’s expression turned horrified.

 

“Don’t do that.” He said, batting Lance’s hand down. “It’s creepy enough without having to watch myself do that.”

 

Lance laughed, a sound he still wasn’t entirely used to. Keith never laughed like Lance did.

 

“We should get moving.” Keith said, his voice returning to a serious tone.

 

Lance activated the black bayard, both nervous and excited to see what the black blaster would look like. He expected the two handed blaster to manifest, just like the blue and the red bayard, but what he got instead was...different. The black blaster was small, only needing one hand to support it.

 

“What the hell is this?” He asked, holding it up to get a better look at it. It felt light in his hands and he wasn’t sure if that was due to Keith’s supposed strong arm muscles or the fact that the gun was twice as small as he was used to.

 

“That, Lance, is a handgun. I can’t believe I had to explain that to you. You’re supposed to be the gun guy.” Keith said, looking over Lance’s shoulder to get a better look at it. Lance ignored Keith’s attempt to antagonize him, still fixated on the strange form the black bayard had taken.

 

“Well, let’s hope it packs a punch.” Lance said, eyeing the small gun suspiciously. “We don’t have time to worry about it now, though. Lead on.”

 

Lance watched himself hold up his free hand in mock surrender. “Nope. You’re leading this mission. You take point.”

 

Lance raised an eyebrow at Keith but didn’t argue. If Keith wanted him to lead he was going to lead. This was his chance to prove himself...even if it was only to Keith.

 

\-----

 

Keith had decided at the beginning of the mission that he was going to let Lance lead the whole thing. It only seemed fair after he had come up with the plan. And besides, he had missed being the right hand man just a little.

 

He was also curious to see how Lance handled the burden of leadership. He hadn’t forgotten how Lance had gotten him back on track when he had first started leading. Keith would’ve given up if it hadn’t been for Lance. He wanted to repay the favor if he could and support Lance.

 

He followed Lance down the dimly lit hallways of the galra base. Coran had been right, it did look exactly like the others ones they’d been to. Lance seemed confident enough in where he was going at least. Maybe they’d get lucky and not run into Kivlak at all...but Keith knew that was mostly wishful thinking.

 

It felt nice to hold the red sword in his hand even if it technically wasn’t his hand. It seemed lighter somehow and even with Lance’s long arms it seemed to respond more nimbly than the black sword.

 

Keith could hear his breath coming out in huffs as they ran quietly through the halls. It was definitely weird running through the halls as Lance. His strides were longer due Lance’s lanky legs, causing him to feel less tired than he normally would. It almost made up for the soreness he was feeling in his arms... _almost_.

 

“Here!” Lance said, darting through a large door. Keith followed closely, tension building in him as he prepared to spring into action. They both stopped dead in their tracks at the empty room. “This doesn’t feel right. Where are all the sentries?”

 

“Maybe you’re plan worked really well?” Keith offered lamely.

 

Keith watched himself shake his head, slightly confused. “Even so, there should at least be someone here. They wouldn’t just leave their main control room unguarded.”

 

“Well, let’s shut it down before they come back.” Keith said urgently and started walking towards the center console on the far side of the room.

 

“Wait!” Lance yelled, running after Keith and grabbing his arm. “It could be a trap.”

 

“Yeah.” Keith said impatiently. “Or it could be an opportunity. There’s really only one way to find out.” Keith gestured to the console.

 

Lance sighed and nodded, still looking unsure about the whole situation. He passed Keith and headed toward the console, Keith following behind him.

 

“Pidge,” Lance said into his comm. “I’m about to shut down the base. We’ll need you to meet us at the rendezvous after that.”

 

“Way to take your time, guys!” Pidge replied loudly. “It’s not like we’ve got things shooting at us or anything!”

 

“You can yell at us later.” Lance replied smoothly. “Just be ready.”

 

“Yeah, whatever.” Pidge said flatly.

 

Lance looked back at Keith with a worried look. “Well, here goes nothing…” Keith watched as he placed his hand on the console, the galra DNA in his arm interacting with the console.

 

Keith had expected the large purple generator in front of them to power down. He had expected the alarms to stop blaring. Neither of those things happened. Instead what they got was the console shutting down and a deep laugh come from behind them.

 

The two spun around, coming face to face with the galra that resembled the photograph that Coran had shown them.

 

“Kivlak.” Keith said, his voice tense and his eyes narrowed. He gripped the sword in his right hand and bent his knees, ready to spring into action.

 

“See? I told you it was a trap!” Lance said, his voice sounding somewhat hysterical.

 

“Not now, Lance.” Keith replied, not taking his eyes off of Kivlak who was giving them an evil smile from across the room.

 

“You should listen to your friend.” Kivlak said, his voice deep and gruff. It had a menacing undertone that set Keith’s nerves on edge. “He was right about the trap.” Kivlak was staring at Keith calmly, like he wasn’t about to fight two of the paladins. He slowly shifted his eyes to Lance and said, “I am quite pleased to see the famous Keith and Lance in my base. I’ve heard some interesting things about you two.”

 

“How do you know our names?” Keith asked, his voice coming out harsh and guarded.

 

Kivlak gave them another menacing smile before saying, “Lotor thought you might be hitting this base soon. He was very generous in the information he gave me about your team.”

 

“Lotor?” Lance asked, glancing at Keith briefly. It had been months since they had heard anything from the prince and his generals.

 

“He’s been very interested in your team.” Kivlak raised his arm and Keith saw a hologram appear in front of them with Keith’s face on it. There was text around his picture but Keith couldn’t read it. It was all in galra. A second later the picture changed to Lance and he could feel Lance tense up next to him. “Especially you two.”

 

“What’s he planning?!” Keith demanded, about to come to the end of his very short fuse.

 

“And why should I tell you, Keith?” Kivlak asked, an almost casual tone to his voice.

 

Keith froze at the sound of his own name. How did Kivlak know who he really was? He was positive he was still stuck in Lance’s body. There was only one reason Kivlak would call him by the right name.

 

“Tell us what you know!” Keith was surprised to hear his own voice shout at Kivlak. It seemed Lance was just as angry as he was at being toyed around with.

 

“Make me.” Kivlak replied, tauntingly.

 

One way or another Keith was getting answers. He gripped his sword tightly and charged the large galra.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!  
> I am sorry for the long wait. I had to deal with real life for a little while. Gross, right? I have started school so I'm going to try to continue to upload at a regular pace but who knows what'll happen? I am also in the middle of writing another fic which I started before this one. I'm trying to upload to that one regularly too so all I ask is for your patience.  
> Also, I apologize for the lack of shenanigans in this chapter but I really needed to set up some sort of plot so I can start developing characters. I hope you can forgive me.  
> As always, any and all feedback you are willing to give is greatly appreciated.  
> Stay safe and I'll see ya next time!
> 
> ~Redjay


	4. Equal and Opposite Reactions

Lance wasn’t surprised to see Keith charge Kivlak. He was never known for his patience. Lance was surprised to see Kivlak not move or shift into a defensive position. He just stood in place, his malicious smile not falling from his face, and waited for Keith to reach him. 

 

Lance knew something wasn’t right. He’d often times been on the receiving end of Keith’s charge during training sessions and he knew how terrifying it was. Keith’s look of pure rage and focus alone was enough to curdle the blood of even the fiercest galra warriors, and even though that look probably lost some of its gusto on Lance’s face, he had no doubt that it was still traumatizing. So why wasn’t Kivlak moving? 

 

“Keith, wait!” Lance shouted but he was too late. Keith had already lunged at Kivlak, sword raised. 

 

The exchange was almost too quick for Lance to see. Keith slashed at Kivlak with a precision that could only come from hours of training. To any other galra the strike would’ve instantly dropped them but this wasn’t any other galra. Kivlak at the last possible moment stepped to the side and grabbed Keith’s arm, his long nails digging into the blue armor. Lance couldn’t see the look on Keith’s face as Kivlak turned and threw Keith across the room. 

 

Keith landed hard on the floor and rolled a little. As Lance watched himself hit the ground he felt the wind get knocked out of him, causing him to stagger back a few steps. He coughed, his left hand clutching his chest, and tried to refocus on the galra in front of him. 

 

What the hell had just happened? 

 

He couldn’t think about it now. Lance raised the black handgun, hoping that it was deadlier than it looked, and fired a few times at Kivlak who was facing away from Lance. Purple beams shot out of the gun and raced towards the large galra’s back. They were perfect shots, of that Lance was sure. His aim was better than average, even in high pressure situations like this. They should’ve hit. 

 

But they didn’t. 

 

With superhuman speed that Lance had never seen before, Kivlak moved out of the way of the shots, hardly even turning around to do so. Lance watched in disbelief as the shots hit the far wall of the room, causing black scorch marks to form from the impact. 

 

“You’re going to have to do better than that.” Kivlak said tauntingly, his voice as casual as if he were discussing the weather. It was official, this guy really pissed Lance off.

 

Keith was already back on his feet, approaching Kivlak with more caution this time. “Lance.” He said quietly into the comm. “Don’t forget what we came here to do. I’ll distract him, you shut down the base.” 

 

Typical Keith, always the one willing to sacrifice himself for the team. Lance, however, knew that in this case it was probably their best course of action. “Okay.” Lance said before turning back towards the dead console. “Pidge!” Lance said into his comm. “I need your help! Kivlak shut down the console somehow and I need to turn it back on!” 

 

“I’m a little busy!” Pidge yelled back. 

 

“I can’t do this without you, Pidge.” Lance said into the comm, trying to make his voice calm. 

 

“Ugh, fine!” They said. “I’m...ah!...uploading a program into your...Hunk watch your six! Into the scanner on your armor. It should...damn Allura! That was awesome! It should bypass whatever Kivlak used...shit!...to turn the console off!” 

 

Lance raised his right arm and tapped a few buttons, looking for Pidge’s program. “I got it!” He said into the comm. 

 

“Good!” Pidge said. “Just put your arm on the console. Your DNA should do the rest!”

 

A moment of confusion froze Lance in place. His DNA? Oh, right! He was Keith. He was so focused on the fight they were in he’d forgot that he wasn’t himself. Not wanting to waste anymore time, Lance slammed his hand down on the console. 

 

And then pain shot up his side. Lance, totally unprepared for the sudden fire in his side, fell to his knees with a yell. Through some miracle he managed to keep his hand on the console, but his vision went a little blurry as his head started to spin. He looked down, expecting to see a wound or blood or something but there was nothing. There wasn’t a scratch on him. 

 

Lance, confused once more and still very much in pain, turned to see himself once again thrown to the floor, Kivlak standing over him. 

 

“Keith!” Lance yelled, raising his right arm despite the white-hot pain stabbing his insides and fired the black bayard at Kivlak out of desperation. It was no surprise to him that his shots missed completely but he didn’t need them to hit. He just needed to distract Kivlak long enough for Keith to get back on his feet. 

 

It worked well enough. Kivlak turned his attention to Lance, looking more annoyed than distracted. Lance had a feeling that Kivlak was just toying with them. Lance had grossly underestimated Kivlak. It was stupid of him to suggest only he and Keith enter the base. It was stupid of him to think this plan would actually work. 

 

But he could dwell on that stuff later. Right now he had to deal with the stinging pain in his side, a Keith that couldn’t hold his own at the moment, and a way too overpowered galra that was currently heading in his direction. And on top of all that he still had to finish the mission. This was, without a doubt, a disaster. 

 

“Pidge!” Lance said into his comm. “How long?” 

 

“Two minutes!” Came Pidge’s reply almost instantly. 

 

Two minutes? There was no way they were going to last two minutes. Lance needed some sort of plan and he needed it fast. 

 

\-----

 

Keith should have been feeling pain, not that he was complaining at the moment. He was sure that he’d taken an almost direct hit on the side from Kivlak but he felt nothing. Keith sat up, completely unfazed from being thrown to the ground multiple times. He looked at his side and sure enough there was quite a large gash. He was definitely going to need to spend a day in a healing pod. The weird thing about it was that he he couldn’t feel any pain. A wound that size should’ve hurt like a bitch but there was nothing. 

 

“Pidge! How long?” 

 

His own voice caused him to look up. He saw himself kneeling in front of the console, a look of pain on his face, and Kivlak heading towards him. Keith’s mind went blank as his instincts took over. Lance was hurt, of that much he was sure. 

 

Keith pushed himself off the ground and sprinted towards Kivlak, pushing Lance’s long legs faster than they could go. He wasn’t about to let anything happen to Lance. Not today. Keith didn’t think as he lunged at Kivlak again. He had tried thinking and so far it had just gotten him thrown around. Keith was pure instinct as he swung his sword at the galra. 

 

He expected Kivlak to turn and dodge his attack and was prepared when Kivlak once again reached for his arm. Without hesitation Keith balled his fist and swung his left arm towards Kivlak. The punch landed on Kivlak’s side, causing the galra to grunt. That was the first hit Keith had landed and he felt a swell of triumph rise in his chest. 

 

It was short lived however, because he soon felt himself being thrown through to the ground once more. He could hear the crash of his armor hitting the metal surface of the ground but once again he felt nothing. 

 

“Keith, can you please stop doing that?” Lance called, his voice sounding slightly hoarse “It kinda hurts like hell!” 

 

Keith didn’t have time to process what Lance had said or respond. He rolled to the side, dodging one of Kivlak’s attacks. He pushed himself to his feet and braced himself for another advance from Kivlak, but Kivlak had stopped his attack and was giving Keith a malicious look. 

 

“Lotor says he’s seen enough.” Kivlak said, his voice unstrained and unconcerned. “Goodbye for now, paladins.”

 

Without another word, Kivlak turned and began walking out of the room. Keith wanted to go after him. Every fiber in his being was screaming at him to chase after Kivlak and bring him down. He had answers and Keith knew it. But Lance was hurt and Keith knew he couldn’t defeat him alone. 

 

With a frustrated grunt Keith turned away from the retreating figure of Kivlak and rushed towards Lance’s side. Lance had managed to get back on his feet, although Keith could tell that his knees were still a little shaky. His hand was still on the console which was now glowing with life again. 

 

“Where are you hurt?” Keith asked as he reached Lance. 

 

“I’m not.” Lance replied with a tired voice. “You are.” 

 

Keith looked down in surprise at the wound on his side. He’d completely forgotten about it. He still couldn’t feel any pain from it. “But…” Keith said, confused, a moment before it clicked in his mind. “ _ Oh! _ ”

 

\-----

 

It was a weird sensation for Lance to feel the effects of the healing pod. It was a warm feeling that spread over his body and made him feel safe. It had been hard convincing the others that he was fine. Shiro had begged him to spend some time in a healing pod, saying that he looked almost sickly. Lance had managed to convince them all it was only fatigue and he just needed to rest. Telling them the truth might’ve been more complicated and Lance didn’t need his life to become any more complicated at the moment. 

 

Lance had retreated to Keith’s room after that and had been thinking over what had happened ever since. He had changed out of the red paladin armor and had elected to take a shower mostly to relax himself than anything else. It was there that Lance did his best to sort things out in his mind...and also not look down too much. 

 

They had successfully completed the mission. The base had been shut down and put out of commission. Although Lance had a strong suspicion that if Kivlak had wanted the base to remain operational, it would have. There was more than one weird thing about Kivlak. 

 

He had obviously known about him and Keith switching bodies. That was a given. He had also mentioned Lotor which was the first sign of him since who-knows-how-long. He had made it seem like Lotor was behind what was happening to them now. But why? Why would he do something like this? What purpose did it serve? What did it accomplish? 

 

Lance didn’t know and he had a feeling that he wasn’t going to figure it out while standing in the shower. He pushed the thoughts of Lotor from his mind and instead thought about the new revelation that had occurred during the fight. It seemed, as far as Lance could tell, that he still felt whatever pain was inflicted on his own body. He had felt each time Keith had been thrown to the ground and he had definitely felt pain from the gash on his side. Lance would like to say that it was a strange discovery but he had learned to just accept the weird at this point. 

 

Lance sighed and reached for Keith’s shampoo that was sitting on the ledge in the shower. If he was going to have a mullet for the foreseeable future he might as well take care of it. Lance held up the bottle, examining the green liquid inside. It was an unmarked bottle and that made Lance slightly nervous. He popped the lid open and sniffed the contents.

 

“Wait a minute…” He muttered to himself as he unscrewed the cap completely. He found himself almost cackling at the thought of what it was. He dipped his finger inside the bottle and then raised it to his lips. He cautiously tasted the supposed shampoo and suddenly found he was in a spectacular mood. No way was he going to let Keith live this down. “Oh my god!” Lance practically screamed at nobody. “This is food goo!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!  
> As always, any and all feedback you are willing to give is greatly appreciated.   
> Stay safe and I'll see ya next time!
> 
> ~Redjay


	5. On the Outside Looking In

Lance felt the exact moment Keith exited the healing pod the next day. He’d grown accustomed to the constant warmth on his side and was not pleased when the feeling faded away, leaving him feeling empty. Lance immediately stood up from his position on the lounge couch next to Hunk and left the room to meet Keith in the infirmary. 

 

He knew that he and Keith had a lot to discuss in terms of the revelations that had occurred during the previous mission. He also understood that they were important, but as Lance walked quickly through the hallways he only had one question on his mind. In the grand scheme of things it probably wasn’t the most pressing matter but Lance didn’t care. He needed some answers. This couldn’t wait. 

 

The door slid open easily when he had reached the infirmary and he wasn’t at all surprised to see himself leaning tiredly against the now open pod. “All patched up?” Lance asked, crossing the room to stand in front of Keith. 

 

“Good as new.” Keith replied, raising an arm to show the absence of the gash. 

 

“Great.” Lance said, shifting his weight to one side and crossing his arms. “We can discuss later how you aren’t going to damage my beautiful body ever again.” Keith snorted sarcastically at that but Lance ignored him and continued talking. “Right now, though, there’s a much more pressing matter.”

 

“Oh?” Keith said, his face becoming more serious and his body tensing. “What’s wrong?”

 

“This.” Lance said, pointing to the mass of black hair on his head. 

 

Keith’s expression shifted into one of confusion. “My hair?” 

 

“Yes, your hair. More specifically, what you put in it.” Lance said, his voice stern, like a mother scolding a child. 

 

“I don’t follow.” Keith replied plainly. 

 

Lance sighed. It seemed he was going to have to spell it out for him. “I know that you’ve lived a rough life and didn’t have the richest of childhoods but even your oblivious mind should know to not put  _ food  _ in your  _ hair _ .” 

 

“Food in my hair?” Keith questioned, still not understanding. 

 

“Food goo, Keith! Food goo! Why was there a bottle of it in your shower?!” Lance’s voice was almost hysterical. 

 

Keith, suddenly understanding, replied defensively. “Because I like it.” 

 

“Then eat it! Don’t rub it in your hair!” Lance said in exasperation.

 

“No, you don’t understand just...did you use it?” Keith asked, gesturing towards his own head. 

 

“Well...it was the only thing you had so yeah. I didn’t like it though!” Lance replied. 

 

“Don’t care.” Keith said. “Feel my hair.”

 

“Feel your hair?” 

 

“Yeah, trust me.”

 

Lance gave Keith a skeptical look and tentatively reached up to touch Keith’s hair. He slowly ran a hand through the black hair, expecting it to feel dead or maybe even slightly sticky. To his surprise the hair was neither of those things. It was soft, softer than Lance’s own hair. It felt like Lance was running his hands over silk except it was hair. Just to make sure he wasn’t imagining it, Lance spent the next minute feeling the hair on his head. “I don’t understand…” He muttered to himself. 

 

He heard Keith let out a somewhat condescending laugh. “See?”

 

Lance shot Keith a glare. “Yeah, it’s a hair softening miracle but how did you even figure that out?” 

 

Keith’s looked away from Lance, his face turning slightly red and said, “T-That’s really not important…”

 

“I disagree. I think that it’s the most important thing I could ever know.” Lance replied, mischievously; he always took every opportunity that came his way to embarrass Keith. It didn’t have quite the same effect since he was staring at his own red face but at this point Lance would take what he could get. Unfortunately, the universe wasn’t on his side today because just then the doors to the infirmary slid open, revealing Shiro. 

 

“Lance! I was just coming to check on you. I didn’t realize you were awake already.” Shiro said, entering the room. Lance had instinctively turned at the sound of his own name, and would’ve replied if it hadn’t been for Keith jumping in to cut him off. 

 

“What? You think something like a tiny cut can keep me down?”

 

Lance turned back towards Keith with a raised eyebrow. Sure, that’s something he would’ve probably said but that didn’t mean it wasn’t weird to hear Keith say it. He hadn’t thought Keith had learned anything from the crash course yesterday but it seemed he was wrong. He had a small suspicion he had created monster. 

 

“Lance, that was more than a scratch. Untreated, a wound like that could kill you. You should be more careful out in the field. You’re lucky Keith was there to back you up.” Shiro said in his dad-like manner. He had joined the other two by the open pod at this point, arms crossed in partial concern and partial disappointment. 

 

Lance knew that Shiro was talking to Keith. It had been Keith who’d been injured, Keith who had faced Kivlak one on one, and Keith who was lucky that Lance had been there. But he still felt a slight twinge in his gut when Shiro had said his name instead of Keith’s. Plenty of times Lance had received this exact same scolding from Shiro and he had no doubt that he would receive it again. He felt the guilt stir within him at being a burden towards the others. 

 

“You’re right, Shiro.” Lance heard his own voice say, soft and vulnerable. “I’ll do better.” Lance felt his insides twist at the troubled expression on Keith’s face. He knew exactly what Keith was experiencing at this very moment, having experienced it more times than he would like to count. 

 

Shiro’s expression softened. “I know you will.” 

 

Lance had had enough. It was hard enough to sit through this talk when he was himself but watching himself sit through this was much much  _ much _ worse. He needed to get out of here. He needed to get himself out of here. 

 

“Hey, uh, Shiro.” Lance said, not even sure what he was going to say. “I need to...borrow Lance. Right now.” Lance didn’t hesitate to grab ahold of Keith’s arm and start to drag him towards the door. 

 

“What, why?” Shiro asked. “He should really take it easy after an injury like that.” 

 

“Uh…” Lance said, still pulling Keith towards the door. He wracked his brain for an excuse that Keith would say. “Training.” He finally blurted out.

 

“Training? Keith, that’s really not a good idea right now.” Shiro said, his tone fatherly. 

 

Lance didn’t have a response to that but at this point he didn’t really care. His brain had short circuited two minutes ago. They had reached the door and it slid open. Lance shoved Keith out the door and then turned to face Shiro, crossing his arms in a super Keithy way. 

 

“It’s important.”

 

“Why?” 

 

“Um...swords. Guns. Swords. Emo. Angst. Yeah...bye.” Lance stepped out of the room leaving a very confused looking Shiro behind. As Lance left the room he was faced with a very amused looking Keith. 

 

“Swords. Guns. Swords. Emo. Angst?” Keith asked, chuckling lightly. “What was that?”

 

“Shut up.” Lance said tensely as he brushed past Keith and led the way down the hall. 

 

\-----

 

Keith and Lance were back in Lance’s room so Keith could change back into regular clothes. Lance sat on the bed, more moody than Keith was used to. He wondered what had caused the normal cheerful Lance to suddenly sink into a sulky state. He wanted to ask him, but he wasn’t sure their relationship was at that point yet. 

 

Sure, over the last couple of weeks the two of them had grown closer. Ever since Keith had started piloting the black lion him and Lance had gotten along way better. He would even consider them kinda friends. But that didn’t mean that they had gotten to the point where Keith could just ask Lance to confide in him. Instead, Keith decided to try to distract Lance. 

 

“So, we should probably talk about what happened back on that base.” Keith said, slipping Lance’s shirt over his head. 

 

“Probably.” Lance said, his voice sounding tense. 

 

“I think we can both agree that we need to find Lotor.” Keith started, foregoing Lance’s hot jacket and instead standing in front of Lance, his tone serious. 

 

“Definitely.” Lance replied, leaning back on his hands. “Kivlak was definitely getting his orders from him. It sounded like Lotor knew what was happening to us. If we’re going to get answers, it’s gonna be from him.”

 

“But we’ve been trying to find Lotor for months with no success. There’s no way we’re going to be able to find him.” Keith said, becoming slightly irritated that the answer was so close yet so far away. 

 

“You’re right…” Lance said, his voice trailing off and his eyes drifting downward in thought. “But we know someone who can find him!”

 

“We do?” Keith asked, tilting his head to the side in confusion. “Who?”

 

A cunning smile formed on Lance’s face. “Kivlak.” He said simply. 

 

“But we don’t know where Kivlak is either.” Keith pointed out. 

 

“Not yet!” Lance declared, jumping off the bed with excitement. “But lucky for us we’ve got a Pidge at our disposal. I just have to convince the others that Kivlak is someone we need to locate.”

 

“And how do you plan on doing that?” Keith asked, still not entirely convinced. 

 

Lance gave Keith a dismissive wave. “I’ll just make something up about him threatening to invade a planet or something. No big deal.”

 

For the first time, Keith felt a twinge of hope in his gut that this nightmare they had found themselves in would end. “You really think we can find Kivlak?” He asked. 

 

“Without a doubt.” Lance replied with a friendly smile, his bad mood clearly gone. 

 

“That settles that.” Keith said, grabbing Lance’s jacket and heading for the door. “Let’s go talk to Pidge right now.” 

 

“Hey!” He heard a moment before he felt a sharp pain on his left arm. Keith spun around to face Lance who stood with his left arm raised slightly, right hand pinching some of the skin on his arm. 

 

Keith instinctively rubbed the spot on his own arm that was radiating with pain. “Why did you do that?” Keith demanded, temper flaring up.

 

“To remind you that we’ve got more things to discuss.” Lance replied, dropping his arms back to his sides. The pain on Keith’s arm started to fade. “Discovering Lotor’s involvement wasn’t the only thing we learned on that base. In case you forgot, you almost killed me.” Lance’s tone was harsh, almost accusatory and Keith had to resist the urge to flinch. “If we are gonna be facing Kivlak again I need to know that you’ll be more careful.”

 

“I’m always careful.” Keith said defensively. Keith knew that wasn’t true. He knew he acted on impulse and it was often times Lance who had to set him straight. In the back of Keith’s mind he saw Lance kneeling on the ground, face twisted in pain. Keith had done that to him. It had been his fault. 

 

Lance let out a curt laugh. “Bullshit! You are the definition of not looking before you leap.” 

 

“Do you not trust me to keep you safe?” Keith asked, finding himself becoming more irritated. 

 

“No, I don’t trust you to keep  _ you  _ safe.” Lance replied, his voice stern. “And right now you is me. I’d just like to get my body back fully intact.”

 

Keith scoffed. “Same thing.” He’d had about enough of this conversation. He turned to leave the room only to feel another pain on his arm. 

 

“We are not done talking yet!” Lance shouted at him. 

 

Keith whirled back around, feeling the anger in him rise. “Would you  _ stop  _ doing  _ that _ ?!” 

 

“Not until you listen to me!” Lance narrowed his eyes at Keith. 

 

So Lance wanted to play it that way? That’s fine. Two could play at his game. With a steely glare Keith reached up, grasping a lock of Lance’s brown hair and yanked it. Lance let out a startled yelp which gave Keith a sense of satisfaction. “Hurts, doesn’t it?” 

 

“This is serious, Keith!” Lance shouted angrily.

 

“No, what’s serious is the fact that you don’t trust me!” Keith shouted back just as loud. 

 

Lance raised his foot and stomped down hard on his own foot. Keith felt flames of pain shoot up from his toes. “That’s not what I said!” 

 

Keith balled his hand into a fist and slammed it against the nearest wall with all his might. He saw Lance grip his hand tightly, no doubt feeling the pain Keith should’ve been feeling. “That’s what you meant though! Maybe it’s  _ me  _ who can’t trust  _ you _ !” 

 

Lance was silent which shocked Keith. Lance usually shouted at the top of his lungs when he was angry. This was something new. Keith took a hesitant step towards Lance, worried that he was actually hurt. Lance had dropped his eyes to the floor, his breathing coming out heavy. 

 

Keith was about to take another step towards Lance when he was abruptly frozen in place by the glare Lance suddenly directed his way. Keith had seen a lot of terrifying things in his life, especially since they had joined team Voltron, but nothing had prepared him for the fire in Lance’s eyes at that precise moment. 

 

“ _ It’s on. _ ” Lance said, his voice low and menacing. 

 

Keith didn’t dare wait around. He wanted to be as far away from Lance as possible or at least not alone in a room with him. Both of them moved in an instant. Keith saw Lance lung at him, clearly out for blood despite the physical pain it would cause him. Keith, moving on mostly instinct, turned and ran out of the room, feeling the presence of Lance right on his heels. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!  
> I'm having a really fun time writing this and I hope you guys are having a fun time reading it. That's all I really care about.   
> Any and all feedback you are willing to give is greatly appreciated.  
> Stay safe and I'll see ya next time!
> 
> ~Redjay


	6. To Catch a Keith

Lance chased after Keith, anger fueling his pursuit. He didn’t care who or what was in his way. He was going to catch Keith and teach him a lesson. He didn’t know exactly how he was going to do that, but he honestly didn’t care. What had been so wrong about asking Keith to keep his body safe? Why did Keith have to get all defensive? Lance didn’t understand and that only made him more angry.

 

Lance pushed Keith’s legs as hard as they would go without making himself fall. Lance wasn’t sure if it was all the training Keith did or the fact that he was just a ball of rage but he was slowly gaining on Keith. In the back of his mind he took a mental note to work out his legs when he got back to his body. Keith being faster than him was not something he liked.

 

He saw Keith take a sharp right turn into a room and Lance followed him, lungs burning and blood boiling. If Lance had been paying more attention to where Keith was going he might not have been so surprised that he was now in the kitchen.

 

“Hunk!” Lance heard Keith call. Hunk was standing by the kitchen oven, cookie tray in hand. As the two entered his expression turned startled, clearly not expecting the two to come rampaging through the kitchen. “Hunk, you have to help me!”  Keith darted behind the larger paladin, peering over his shoulder with a slight smirk on his face. “Keith is trying to kill me!”

 

Of course now Keith was going to act perfectly like Lance. Lance stopped in front of Hunk, sending a fiery glare at his best friend. “Move, Hunk, I promise I won’t kill him.” Lance made Keith’s voice dangerously low, knowing that it would scare the yellow paladin.

 

“H-hey, c’mon Keith. I’m sure whatever Lance did he didn’t mean it…” Hunk’s voice was shaky.

 

Lance didn’t have the patience or time for this. “Fine. If you won’t move, I’ll make _him_ move.” Without any hesitation Lance grabbed what looked like a rolling pin from the counter next to him, laid his hand down on the counter, and swung the rolling pin so it landed perfectly on top of his fingers.

 

“What the hell, Keith!?” Hunk yelled as the rolling pin came down. Keith, however, let out a strangled hiss, trying his best to not alert Hunk that he was the one feeling the pain.

 

“Come out or I’ll do it again!” Lance yelled, raising the rolling pin threateningly.

 

“No! You’ll break your fingers!” Hunk yelled, taking a step towards Lance.

 

What Lance had expected was Keith to come out with his hands up. Lance should’ve known better. That’s not the way Keith rolled. In a flash Keith darted for the door, grabbing a handful of space-flour that Hunk had left sitting on the counter and threw it at Lance, hitting him square in the face.

 

For a moment all Lance could see was white. He dropped the rolling pin and wiped his eyes, his temper rising even more than it had just been. He could hear Hunk’s gasp and the sound of Keith retreating back out into the hall. As soon as the flour was out of his eyes, Lance took off after him, determined to make him pay the price.

 

As he left the kitchen he could hear Hunk yelling something after him but he ignored him. He was on a mission and he’d be damned if he failed. He saw Keith turn the corner and he followed closely behind.

 

As Lance rounded the corner he could see Pidge walking in the opposite direction they were currently running. They were looking down at a datapad in their hand instead of at the two people barreling towards them.

 

“Pidge!” Lance heard himself yell as Keith passed Pidge. “Keith’s trying to murder me!”

 

“Yeah? What else is new?” They said, glancing up unamused as Lance neared them. In an instant their expression became horrified as they spotted what Lance could only guess as an enraged Keith covered in white powder sprinting past them. “What the fuck?” He heard them say a moment before he heard footsteps following him.

 

Lance glanced back to see Pidge chasing after him, a mischievous smile on their face. “Stay outta this, Pidge!” Lance shouted back at them.

 

“In your dreams!” They replied. “I gotta see how this turns out!”

 

Lance decided to ignore them, instead focusing on catching Keith who he was once again gaining on. His chest was on fire, his lungs feeling as if they were about to burst at any moment, and he could no longer feel his legs. Lance didn’t care about any of that. He couldn't even really remember why he was chasing Keith. All he knew was that he was furious and it was Keith’s fault.

 

Keith darted into another room, probably looking for somebody else to hide behind. Well, not this time. Lance, with Pidge not too far behind, followed Keith into the room.

 

\-----

 

It had been clear to Keith since the moment he’d left Lance’s room that Lance was not going to stop until he had caught him and did...something. Keith wasn’t sure what that something was but he didn’t really want to find out. He tried involving the others, hoping that they could magically calm Lance down. That plan had been a failure, only serving to make Lance more angry and catch Pidge’s attention. So Keith had formed a new plan.

 

Keith entered the training room, not stopping until he was in the center of the room. He turned to see himself running towards him at full speed, fire in his eyes. Keith stood his ground until Lance was about ten feet away from him.

 

“Activate invisible maze!” He shouted and immediately felt the the whooshing of walls going up around him. Lance however, had clearly not expected that. Keith saw his eyes go wide and he tried to stop but he wasn’t fast enough. Keith watched as he, covered in flour, slammed at full speed into the wall of the invisible maze. It would have been slightly funny if it hadn’t been for the shock that ignited Keith’s body in pain. He couldn’t help but cry out and drop to a knee in pain. He had expected that to happen but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt any less.

 

Before Lance had the opportunity to recover Keith said, “Lock invisible maze!”

 

“Invisible maze locked by Lance.” The automated voice said in response.

 

With a grunt Keith managed to stand back up, the tingling sensation still present on his skin. He looked at Lance who was standing about five feet in front of him, glaring at Keith, and said, “You need to calm down, okay?”

 

“You threw space-flour in my face!” Lance yelled at him, flinging his arms in the air for emphasis.

 

“Because you smashed my fingers with a rolling pin!” Keith couldn’t help but yell back.

 

“They’re fine, ya baby.” Lance said, crossing his arms in irritation.

 

“How would you know? They’re my fingers!”

 

“Nope.” Lance said, popping the ‘p’ for emphasis. “Right now they’re mine and if I had wanted to break them I would’ve.”

 

“Oh thanks, that makes me feel loads better.” Keith said with a huff. “By that logic I guess this is my foot.” He said holding up Lance’s left foot. “So I’m sure you wouldn’t mind if I just-” Keith kicked the wall of the maze that was in front of him. “Did that!”

 

Keith saw himself go rigid as Lance experienced the shock that Keith had only moments before. It only took a moment before Lance had recovered and said between clenched teeth, “Stop acting like a child.”

 

“I will when I stop having to deal with a child.” Keith replied, sending a glare at Lance.

 

“Well, at least I don’t have to hide behind a stupid maze like a scaredy cat.” Lance taunted. “Drop the maze.”

 

“Not until you calm down.” Keith replied, shaking his head.

 

Lance held up his hand threateningly. “Drop it or I swear I’ll touch it.”

 

“I’m not going to drop it.”

 

“Drop it!”

 

“No!”

 

“Hey!”

 

Keith felt himself freeze as he heard Pidge yell from the other side of the room. They were standing by the door, not caught in the invisible maze. They looked an equal amount pissed and curious. Keith had completely forgot they were there.

 

“If you two jackasses could stop fighting for one minute that’d be great.” They said.

 

“But he-” Lance started but Pidge cut him off.

 

“Stow it, Lance. I really don’t want to hear it.”

 

“Wait…” Keith said, unsure if he heard correctly, “You just called him Lance…how’d you figure it out?”

 

Pidge gave them a knowing look. “Well, it was kinda hard to miss what was going on with you two yelling at the top of your lungs. It also explains your weird behavior lately. You guys are pretty bad at acting like each other.”

 

“Hey, I play a great Keith.” Lance said with a huff.

 

“That kinda good plan you came up with made me suspicious, Lance.” Pidge said. “Keith would never think of something like that. He’s like ninety-nine percent impulse and one percent hair.”

 

“That was an unnecessary insult…” Keith muttered.

 

“Anyway,” Pidge continued, ignoring Keith. “I think it’s safe to say that you’re going to need my help to change back.”

 

“Actually, yeah.” Lance said. “We were about to come to you for help before this one got all defensive.” Lance gestured towards Keith.

 

Keith rolled his eyes and said, “Drop invisible maze.” There was another whooshing sound as the maze dropped it’s walls. “We need to find Kivlak.”

 

“I think I can help you with that.” Pidge said. “But first, I think I’m owed an explanation.”

 

\-----

 

“It seems like your theory was right, Lotor. They can still feel the pain associated with their own body.” Kivlak’s voice said over the comm.

 

Lotor smiled to himself, finding delight in the new information. “Fantastic. Everything seems to be working out just as planned.”

 

“If I may, sir, why those two?” Kivlak asked, his curiosity overwhelming his duty. Lotor didn’t mind answering the question though.

 

“Their dynamic is...intriguing.” He replied. “They work well together, too well. If we can break them...well, let’s just say that Voltron will no longer be a problem.” Lotor let out a low chuckle at the thought of messing with the paladins heads. It certainly would be entertaining. “It’s time to start phase two. You know what to do.”

 

“As you command. Vrepit sa!”

 

Lotor heard the comm go dead. Phase one had turned out better than he could’ve hoped. He couldn’t wait for phase two.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!  
> This chapter is a little shorter than I normally write but I just couldn't find a good stopping point that kept the flow of the story. Hopefully you guys can survive without those 200 words.  
> Any and all feedback you are willing to give is greatly appreciated.  
> Stay safe and I'll see ya next time!
> 
> ~Redjay


	7. In Sickness and In Health

“So let me see if I got this right.” Pidge said, glancing up from the computer in front of them. After Pidge had broken up his and Keith’s fight, Lance had declared that he was going to take a shower while the other two headed to Pidge’s lab. He really didn’t want to be covered in space flour anymore. A little while later the three were in the green lion’s hanger which served as Pidge’s lab. They were combing through the data collected from the base for anything that would point them towards Kivlak. “You guys just woke up in the wrong bodies? Like you weren’t bitten by anything or, I dunno, zapped by some weird laser gun?”

 

“I promise you that neither of us was zapped or bitten or injected or anything.” Lance said again. He swore he had said this exact same thing three times already. “At least not anything we are aware of.”

 

“And you think Lotor is behind it?” 

 

“We don’t know.” Keith said. “But Kivlak mentioned him and referred to us by our real names. Lotor knows something so we need to find him.”

 

“And tell me one more time why we can’t tell the others. They could help.”

 

Lance sighed, feeling more frustrated. “Because for some reason we can’t say who we really are. Here watch: I’m…” Lance paused trying to vocalize the right word. “Keith.” Lance couldn’t help the feeling of disappointment as the wrong name came out. “Whenever someone’s within earshot that isn’t...Lance...or me we can’t say the right name.” 

 

“I never thought I would hate the name ‘Lance’ so much.” Keith said flatly. 

 

“Hey! You should feel blessed for getting to say my name so much!” Lance replied, shooting Keith with a little glare. 

 

“I think you guys are missing the point.” Pidge said. “I’m not under the spell or whatever is going on. I can tell the others.” 

 

Keith and Lance were silent for a moment. Lance had to admit it was a good idea and he was a little embarrassed he hadn’t thought of it sooner.

 

“Oh…” He said, with an awkward laugh. “Right. Then I guess we should tell the others…”

 

“Yeah,” Keith agreed, not sounding any better than Lance. “Yeah, that’s a good idea.”

 

“You guys are morons.” Pidge said with a shake of their head. “C’mon. Let’s go find Shiro.”

 

\-----

 

The trio found Shiro on the bridge, looking over a map on one of the screens, no doubt planning their next move. As the three entered the room Shiro glanced up. 

 

“Hey, guys. What’s up?” 

 

“We have some pretty startling news for you, Shiro.” Pidge said. “And you can’t freak out, okay?”

 

Shiro’s brows furrowed in concern before nodding. 

 

“Okay,” Pidge pointed at Lance. “This is actually Keith.” 

 

Lance felt his hopes fall through the floor at the same exact moment Pidge’s face twisted in confusion. He should’ve known that it wouldn’t have been that easy. 

 

“...what?” Shiro asked, giving all three of them a peculiar look. 

 

Pidge shook their head, cleared their throat, and tried again, this time pointing at Keith. “What I mean is that this is Lance.” 

 

The small group was silent for a moment. Pidge looked like their brain had shut down, Shiro was shifting his gaze between them worriedly, Keith was looking down, one hand pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration, and Lance? Well, Lance couldn’t feel his limbs anymore. There was a sudden numbness that he could only attribute to the fact that whatever was keeping them from telling the others the truth had now spread to Pidge. He had to admit that was a development he hadn’t seen coming. 

 

It was Shiro who spoke first, breaking the tension, “Are you guys...feeling okay?”

 

Lance was about to open his mouth and spew some bullshit but Pidge spoke first, “Now I’m the one who is high.” There voice was quiet and distant like they didn’t even realize the others were still in the room. 

 

“You’re high?” Shiro asked, his tone turning from concerned to fatherly in an instant. 

 

Lance, being propelled into action by the sudden fear of being scolded by Shiro, grabbed Pidge and slammed a hand over their mouth. They didn’t even fight back, too lost in their own mind. 

 

“Pidge? High? Not a chance.” He started to pull Pidge out of the room. “We’re in space. How would that even be possible?” Lance didn’t necessarily care that he wasn’t acting like Keith right now. In fact, the longer he was stuck in Keith’s body the more he didn’t care about the others finding out. What he did care about was Shiro benching them because he thought they were on some sort of space acid trip. They couldn’t waste that kind of time. 

 

“Yeah, c’mon, Shiro.” Keith said, backing out of the room with Lance who was still towing Pidge along. “Where would we even find that kinda stuff out here?” Lance wasn’t sure if Keith was thinking the same thing Lance was or if he was just playing along but he didn’t care. “I think Pidge is just feeling a little under the weather. We’re gonna go make sure they get some rest.”

 

Lance was grateful for Keith’s impulses for once. He was much better at bullshitting than Lance was. Shiro didn’t try to follow them, instead just giving them a suspicious look. Lance finally managed to get Pidge out of the room and the door slid closed. 

 

Lance let go of Pidge, swearing under his breath. Why couldn’t anything just go as planned?

 

\-----

 

“Hey, Pidge? Ya in there?” Keith was snapping his fingers in front of Pidge’s face, trying to bring them back to the world of the living. The three were once again in Pidge’s lab, having retreated back there after their disastrous conversation with Shiro. 

 

Pidge blinked a few times before swatting Keith’s hands away. “What the hell was that?!”

 

“You tell us.” Lance said, crossing his arms. 

 

“I…” Pidge paused for a moment, adjusting their glasses. “It was like I couldn’t say the right name. Like my mouth didn’t want to form the right word. I’ve never felt anything like it...”

 

“That sounds exactly like what’s happening to us.” Keith pointed out. 

 

The group was silent, all taking a moment to let everything sink in. It seemed to Keith that every time they were one step closer to solving the mystery of his and Lance’s boy swap they were thrown another curve ball. He felt they were no closer to figuring anything out than they had been yesterday. 

 

Pidge was the first to break the silence. “We really need to find Lotor.” 

 

“Which means finding Kivlak first.” Keith agreed. “Anything yet?” 

 

Pidge turned to their computer, taking a few moments to read through the data on their screen. “Not yet.” They said with a small sigh. “I’m taking the information from the base and cross-referencing it with my galra finder. It should be able to come up with a relatively accurate location for him but it’s gonna take awhile.” 

 

“So what’re we supposed to do in the meantime?” Lance asked, making Keith’s voice into a whine that caused Keith to cringe slightly. It sounded so unnatural coming out of his own mouth. 

 

Pidge shrugged. “I guess you’ll just have to keep pretending to be each other.”

 

Keith let out an annoyed sigh. “I was afraid you’d say that. Isn’t there anything else you could do?”

 

“Like what? I’m not a miracle worker.” Pidge responded defensively. 

 

Keith didn’t have an answer to that but Lance chimed in. “We need to find out more about whatever is happening to us. So far we’ve just been learning on the fly and that almost got us killed.”

 

“So what do you propose?” Pidge asked.

 

“There might be something in the readings from the healing pod that could tell us more.” Lance said.

 

“That’s...actually not a bad idea.” Keith said, not trying to hide the shock in his voice. 

 

“Pfft.” Lance said, shooting Keith an obnoxious smirk. “All of my ideas are good.” 

 

“Yeah, it’s a great idea except I’m not a doctor. I could translate the data but I still wouldn’t know what I’d be looking for. You’re gonna need someone like Coran to help you.” 

 

Keith glanced at Lance whose expression hadn’t changed. “You have a plan.” It wasn’t a question. Even on Keith’s face he could recognize Lance’s “I know something you don’t know” look. 

 

“I have a plan.” Lance answered with a nod. 

 

\-----

 

“I really don’t see how this is gonna help.” Keith said irritably. Him and Lance were sitting on the floor of Lance’s room. They were facing each other with their legs crossed. There were brushes and other bizarre looking containers and bottles scattered around them. 

 

“Shush. No talking.” Lance commanded, leaning forward and applying a cold liquid to Keith’s face. “And I already told you. We can’t just go and demand Coran to look at the data. That’ll look suspicious. We need a reason and you, my friend, are going to be our reason.”

 

Keith pulled back a little and said, “But how does putting this shit on my...your face help?” 

 

Lance gave Keith a half smirk. “You’ll see once I’m done.”

 

Keith rolled his eyes at Lance’s cryptic response but dropped the subject and asked something new. “So, where’d you even get all this stuff?”

 

“Oh, here and there.” Lance replied, grabbing Keith’s chin and pulling him within arm's reach again “Whenever we visit a new planet they usually give us gifts. Most of this stuff I got from those missions.” 

 

“I’ve never gotten any gifts.” Keith stated plainly. 

 

“That’s because you’re terrifying.” Lance replied, his voice not mocking but instead casual, like he was commenting on the weather. 

 

“Thank you.” 

 

Lance hummed in response, too focused on his task. There was silence for a moment while Lance worked before he spoke. “I never thought I’d find a use for this pale foundation. Thank god I didn’t throw it out.”

 

“Why wouldn’t you use it?” Keith asked curiously. 

 

Lance let out a laugh. “In case you haven’t noticed my skin is a little darker than yours. If I used this stuff I’d look like a ghost. But since that’s kinda what I’m going for...here we are.” Lance set down the brush he’d been working with and picked up a black pallet.

 

“What’s that?” Keith asked a little apprehensively, eyeing the pallet. 

 

“Eyeshadow...or the space version of it I guess. Space eyeshadow?”

 

“I’ve never seen you wear that.” Keith said.

 

“That’s because I don’t. Foundation? Concealer? That’s more my jam.” Lance replied, opening the pallet. “I told you. I get this stuff as gifts. I’m not going to refuse stuff just because I don’t use it.” 

 

“That seems dumb. Why take stuff you’re just gonna throw away?” 

 

“And that is why you don’t get gifts.” Lance said dryly. “Now close your eyes.” 

 

Keith did as instructed and only flinched a little as the soft pad of the brush started sweeping below his right eye. The two were silent again, Keith letting Lance focus on not stabbing him in the eye. Sure, he wouldn’t feel it but he thought it best to avoid hurting one another after the flour incident. 

 

After a few minutes Lance said, “Alright, you’re done.” He stood up and offered a hand to Keith. Keith took it, standing up. Lance led the two to the bathroom in Lance’s room and Keith got his first glimpse of Lance’s work. 

 

The face in the mirror still wasn’t his own but it was even stranger looking than before. Lance’s tan skin was now a sickly pale color but not so much as to seem cartoonish. There were dark circles under his eyes, Lance’s eye shadow job looking more realistic than Keith thought possible. Keith had to admit that he was impressed. 

 

“Where did you learn how to do this?” He asked, glancing at Lance.

 

“Growing up with older sisters who like to use you as a practice dummy can teach you a lot of things. Also, my nieces insisted that I do their makeup whenever they wanted to play dress up.” Lance gaze turned solemn as he remembered the family he left behind. It lasted only a moment before he seemed to shake himself out of it and said, “Anyway, all you have to do is act sick.” Lance said. “Hopefully you can manage that.”

 

“At this point, I’ll have a hard time convincing anyone that I’m healthy.” Keith said, looking back at the face in the mirror that looked inches from passing out or throwing up or both. 

 

“Perfect.” Lance said. “Let’s go talk to Coran.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!  
> Can you believe that I rewrote this chapter four times? It was insane. But I needed to make it perfect because you guys deserve the best.   
> As per the usual, any and all feedback you are willing and able to give is greatly appreciated and extremely motivating.   
> Stay safe and I'll see ya next time!
> 
> ~Redjay


	8. The Rhythm of the Machine

It didn’t take long for Lance and Keith to find Coran despite the castle being as big as it was. Lance had been on the castle long enough to know with almost absolute certainty where the rest of the team was going to be. Hunk would be in the kitchen, Pidge would be in their lab, Keith would be on the training deck, Shiro could usually be found on the bridge, Allura was almost always in the lounge, and Coran was usually on the engineering deck. After the problems with the teleduv Coran had brought it upon himself to constantly be checking how the castle was holding up. 

 

So it came as no surprise to Lance when the door to the engineering room slid open and Coran was standing by on of the consoles, reading something on one of the monitors that Lance couldn’t understand. Lance glanced back at Keith who was only a half step behind him and gave him a small nod to tell him that it was game on. 

 

Keith gave a nod back before hunching his shoulders and letting his face fall into a mixed expression of tiredness and nausea. Lance had to admit that he was a little impressed. Who knew Keith could actually be a good actor when he set his mind to it? What surprised Lance the most was when Keith all the sudden leaned into Lance, resting an arm on Lance’s shoulder and shifting half his weight onto Lance. If it hadn’t been for Keith’s above average upper body strength Lance would have surely dropped Keith. 

 

For effect Keith let out a wheezing cough, catching Coran’s attention. Lance saw the eccentric man look over his shoulder at the two who were still standing in the doorway. His expression turned quickly from neutral to concerned as he spotted what he thought was a sick Lance draped over the left half of Keith.

 

“Lance, are you alright? What happened?” Coran asked, worry present in his voice. 

 

Lance decided to respond for Keith. “I don’t know. I just found him like this.” Lance tried to make his voice sound worried but not too worried. That was a Keith thing to do, right? Act all stoic in the face of danger...or in this case a fake sickness that was going to trick Coran into translating the data from the healing pod. “I think he’s sick. Maybe he contracted some sort of virus from that wound he got on the galra base.” 

 

Coran’s face scrunched up in thought. “It’s possible. I’ll need to check records in the infirmary to know for sure.”

 

“Let’s do that.” Lance replied, adding a touch of urgency to his voice partially to really sell the lie and partially to get Keith off of his shoulder. He had never realized how heavy he was. 

 

Keith let out another gross sounding cough accompanied by a slight groan. Lance glanced at his face and if he didn’t know better, he would’ve sworn that Keith was really sick. 

 

“We’ll go straight away.” Coran said and moved to grab Keith’s other arm and sling it over his shoulder. 

 

The three left the engineering deck and made their way to the infirmary, Keith keeping up the sick act the entire time. They moved as quickly as Keith would allow which made Lance impatient. He knew that it was important to make it look believable but the sooner they got to the infirmary the sooner they would know if anything was physically wrong with them. 

 

Lance wasn’t sure whether or not he wanted the answer to be found in their biology. On one hand it would get them closer to figuring out a way to undo this mess, but on the other hand there could be something extremely dangerous inside them, fatal even, and that scared Lance more than being stuck in Keith’s body ever could. But he knew that the sooner they solved this mystery the better. If it was something dangerous, that would mean they’d have more time to figure out a way to combat it.

  
  


When the three arrived, they set Keith down on one of the steps gently before Coran went to the console in the center of the room. 

 

“Don’t worry, Lance.” Coran said in a chipper voice. “We’ll have you all fixed up in no time.” He tapped a few buttons before a screen popped up. Lance waited impatiently as Coran pulled up the reports and started looking through them. He could feel his heart pounding against his chest in anticipation and he was sure that Keith was feeling the exact same way. “Ah, here we are.” Coran said after a few moments. 

 

“What? What is it?” Lance asked impatiently. 

 

“No, sorry. I meant I found the right report. Just a tick and we’ll see if the pod flagged anything unusual in Lance’s system.” 

 

There was silence in the room again as Coran started to read. Lance glanced at Keith who was still playing the sick card. He still looked like he was knocking on death’s door but there was also a nervousness to his features, something that Lance could also feel in the pit of his stomach. 

 

“Well, that’s odd…” Coran said quietly, talking more to himself than the two paladins in the room. “Why, that doesn’t make any sense.” 

 

“What doesn’t make any sense?” Lance asked, his words laced with a slight fear. 

 

“Well, for the symptoms he’s exhibiting there should be something unusual in his immune system. At the very least his white blood cells should be active but they’re not.” Lance wasn’t too shocked by that. Keith wasn’t really sick but Coran didn’t know that. “What’s extra strange is that the pod picked up some weird reading in the brian.” 

 

“What kind of weird reading?” Lance asked. 

 

“A mechanical reading.” Coran said, shooting them with a concerned glance. 

 

“I...don’t understand.” Lance said, doing his best to suppress his fear. 

 

“Look.” Coran said, blowing up the screen for them to see easier. “This is what a normal brain scan looks like.” He tapped a few buttons and the screen displayed a chart with a bunch of lines rising and falling in seemingly random sequences. “This is the brain scan from when Lance was in the healing pod after the bomb went off in the castle. These lines represent activity in the brain. The higher the line, the more active that part of the brain is. These lines are organic, random to the untrained eye. Now this,” Coran tapped the console again and a different chart came onscreen. “Is the scan the pod took after our most recent battle.” The chart looked almost the same. There were still lines that seemed to flow naturally from one point to the other. That is, all except on line at the very bottom of the chart. It’s activity rose and fell in a repeated pattern that almost looked the the kinda thing one would see on a heart monitor. “You can tell from the repeated pattern that this reading doesn’t come from the brain. This reading comes from some sort of machine.”

 

Lance was seconds away from having a full on panic attack when he asked, “So...what does that mean?” 

 

Coran was silent for a moment before answering. “It means that there’s something in Lance’s head that shouldn’t be there.”

 

\-----

 

There’d been a strange unrest around the castle lately that Shiro could only attribute to two individuals. Over the past couple of days he had noticed the odd behavior of both Keith and Lance. They’d been...unlike themselves to say in the least. He knew that ever since Keith had started to pilot the black lion that him and Lance had grown closer but their recent behavior didn’t account for that. This was something different, something that concerned Shiro. It had been a constant worry in the back of his mind since the other morning when they came barging into the kitchen like their lives depended on it. And so finally, Shiro had decided to bring the matter up with Allura. She might have an insight that Shiro hadn’t thought of. Or that was his thinking. At the very least, she could maybe calm Shiro’s nerves a little. 

 

He found Allura in the lounge, sitting on the couch and scrolling through a data pad. She looked up at the sound of his entrance with a warm smile on her face. “Hello, Shiro. Is there something you need?” 

 

Shiro moved so he was standing in front of her, not letting the concerned expression fall from his face. “Yeah, uh…” He hesitated, contemplating the right way to phrase his question. “Have you noticed anything...odd with Lance or Keith lately?”

The smile fell from Allura’s face as she processed the question. “Not really.” She replied after a moment. “Why?”

 

“They haven’t seemed like not themselves to you at all?” He asked. 

 

“Shiro, what’s this about?” Allura said, ignoring Shiro’s question. 

 

Shiro let out a small sigh before caving. “I’ve noticed that Lance and Keith have been a little out of sorts lately. I mean they’ve been saying some really weird stuff lately and spending way too much time together and just a little bit ago Pidge started acting weird too. Do you think something’s wrong with them? Should we be worried?”

 

To Shiro’s surprise Allura’s features lit up. “I don’t think so.”

 

“You don’t?” Shiro asked, one eyebrow raised in surprised. 

 

Allura shook her head. “Not at all. This sounds like something Pidge described to me once. Oh, what was it...pluberry? Pulberty?”

 

“Puberty?” 

 

“That’s it!” Allura said excitedly. “Puberty!”

 

Shiro felt like banging his head off the wall...repeatedly. So much for that idea. Clearly Allura wasn’t going to be much help.

 

“Ya know what? I think you may be right.” He said, only sounding slightly sarcastic. “They’re probably going through puberty at the age of  seventeen. Thanks.” 

 

Allura gave him a radiant smile. “Always happy to help.” 

 

\-----

 

Pidge was sitting in their lab, their fingers pounding against the keys of their laptop. They were doing anything and everything they could to speed up the locating Kivlak process. Sure, it was funny to watch Lance and Keith struggle with their current predicament but Pidge also knew they were in uncharted territory. The longer they were like that the more danger they were in. And if Lotor was involved? Things could be a lot worse than they appeared. 

 

Pidge continued to type, unaware of their surroundings, and as such was completely taken by surprise at the sudden voice in their ear. 

 

“Whatcha working on?”

 

“Ah!” Pidge yelped, jumping about a foot in the air and almost falling out of their char.  “Holy shit, Hunk. Don’t scare me like that!”

 

“Sorry, my bad.” Hunk said, holding up his hands in mock surrender. “I thought you knew I was here.”

 

Pidge sighed and adjusted their glasses. “It’s okay…”

 

“So what are you working on?” Hunk asked, peering closer at the laptop screen. “Is that a tracking program?”

 

“Yeah.” Pidge said. “I’m trying to find Kivlak.”

 

“Kivlak? Why?” Hunk asked, eyeing Pidge suspiciously.

 

Pidge shrugged, doing their best to play it off casually. “Keith asked me to and since he’s kinda the leader right now…”

 

“Wait, why does Keith want to find Kivlak?”

 

Pidge shrugged again. “Dunno. You can ask him though.” Hunk seemed to accept that answer and Pidge was relieved that that problem now belonged to Lance. 

 

“So how close are you to finding him?” Hunk asked. 

 

“Pretty close.” Pidge replied with a confident smirk. “He can’t hide from me much longer. In fact…” Pidge typed a few more lines of code into their laptop. “Got him!” 

 

“Oh, sweet. Where is he?” 

 

Pidge read the data on the screen once...twice...three times in disbelief. “This can’t be right. This can’t be right at all...”

 

“What? What can’t be right?” Hunk asked, his voice urgent. 

  
“He’s... _here!_ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!  
> Oh boy things are getting good. Y'all best be ready for phase two 'cause it's right around the corner! As always, any and all feedback you are willing and able to give is greatly appreciated.   
> Stay safe and I'll see ya next time!
> 
> ~Redjay


	9. Glued at the Hip

The sirens blared in the castle before Keith could process what Coran had just said, the sound radiating throughout the room and cutting off any questions that were going to be asked.

 

“I need to get to the bridge to see what’s going on!” Coran shouted over the sirens. “Keith, you make sure Lance is okay! And whatever happens, don’t let Lance fight! He’s in no condition for that!” 

 

Keith saw Lance nod at Coran before Coran ran from the room. Keith automatically dropped his sick act, sitting up straight as the adrenaline started coursing through his body. 

 

“What do you think is going on?” He asked Lance loudly. 

 

Lance gave him a worried look before saying, “I don’t know. I’m gonna go see if I can find out.” 

 

“I’ll come with you.” Keith replied, about to push himself up off the ground.

 

“No, you stay here. It’s too dangerous.” Lance said with a shake of his head. 

 

Keith couldn’t help but roll his eyes at Lance.  “In case you forgot, danger kinda comes with the job. I’m coming.” Keith attempted to stand but was pushed back down by Lance. 

 

“No, you’re not. Look, we just found out that there’s something in your brain,  _ in my brain,  _ that isn’t supposed to be there and we don’t know what it is or what it does. What we do know is that Lotor probably had some hand in putting it there. What if we’re being attacked by Kivlak? What if we’re being attacked by Lotor? What if it’s some sort of mind control thing? No, it’s too risky.” 

 

Keith had to admit that he had a point but he couldn’t let his team go into battle without him. What if one of them got hurt because he wasn’t there? What if Lance got hurt but didn’t know it because Keith wasn’t there to tell him and then he…

 

Nope, no way was Keith being left behind. 

 

“It’s a risk we’re going to have to take.” Keith said. “For all we know there could be something in my brain too. Do you want to sit out?” 

 

Keith could see the indecisiveness on his face as Lance thought it over. Finally he sighed, his shoulder sagging a little in defeat. “Fine, you can come.” He held out a hand and Keith took it, allowing Lance to haul him to his feet. 

 

Keith only had a moment to revel in his triumph before he saw Lance take a step towards him and felt strong arms push him backwards. Usually he wouldn’t have been so caught off guard but this was Lance and Keith had trusted him. A mistake he knew he was going to regret as he lost his balance and stumbled backwards right into the open cryo-pod. Keith could feel the moment that his limbs became unresponsive but nothing else. 

 

He was going to  _ kill  _ Lance. 

 

\-----

 

Lance did feel guilty for freezing Keith but it wasn’t like he could actually feel it so he didn’t feel that bad. It didn’t take a genius to know that Keith would never run from a fight, much less willingly sit one out. So Lance had done the only thing that he could think of to keep Keith away from whatever was going on. 

 

He locked him in a cryo-pod. 

 

And it wasn’t like he wasn’t paying the price for it. He could feel the cold spread throughout his body, making him shiver and pull Keith’s jacket tighter around him, wishing that Keith had a real jacket and not one that just completed his tough-guy aesthetic. He knew, however, that as soon as he let Keith out he was going to be punched. But he had accepted that fate as soon as he had decided to lock him in there. Taking one for the team had always been his strong suit after all. 

 

The sirens were still blaring in the castle and Lance knew he needed to figure out what was going on and fast. Besides, he currently was the team leader. He wasn’t about to let everyone down now. 

 

“Sorry, Keith.” Lance said, not really sure if Keith could hear him or not. “I’ll come get ya out at soon as this is over.” Keith didn’t respond. Keith couldn’t respond but Lance could’ve sworn he saw a fire flare up in his eyes and resisted the urge to shudder. 

 

But Lance couldn’t worry about an angry Keith now. With one final glance at himself in the cryo-pod Lance turned, ignoring how he could no longer feel his fingers, and ran to the door of the room. 

 

As he went to pass through the door he suddenly felt a numbness in his legs that was entirely different from the one that was present in his fingers. This numbness was paralyzing, forcing Lance to stop walking forward. Lance tried to move through the door, gritting his teeth and grabbing onto the frame in a desperate attempt to pull himself through the door but his feet stayed perfectly glued to the floor. It was like some sort of invisible force was keeping him from leaving the room. 

 

Lance had been through a lot of weird shit over the last two days and it would be a fair assumption to say that he was at the end of his rope when it came to weird shit. So when Lance attempted to exit the room but could get no further than the doorway, he became a little bit more than fed up. 

 

His mind clouded with rage and since no one was there to stop him, he took a few steps back, briefly noticing that he could move Keith’s legs again, and took a running start at the door, attempting to bash through this new invisible force.

 

It didn’t work. 

 

Once again his feet stopped in the doorframe and with a very unmanly yelp he fell forward, coming down hard on the metal flooring of the castle. He was positive that Keith had felt that and imagined that the fall had been quite painful. Just another thing he was going to pay for later. Lance rolled over so he lay on his back, the invisible force still holding a tight grip on his legs. 

 

“This is just fucking perfect.” He muttered angrily to himself.

 

The sirens continued to blare, signaling that whatever was happening was still going on. Lance  _ had  _ to find out what was happening. But how was he supposed to do that if he couldn’t leave the room?

 

And even a better question:  _ Why couldn’t he fucking leave the room?! _

 

And that’s when it hit him. With stiff, almost robotic movements Lance stood, holding onto the frame of the door for balance. Once standing he walked over to the cryo-pod Keith was still locked inside of, the ability to move his legs returning as soon as he attempted to get closer to Keith. He stood still in front of the pod, eyeing his frozen body cautiously. 

 

“I’m gonna let you out.” Lance called to him. “But you’re not allowed to punch me.” Lance had a feeling that Keith was going to punch him anyway. It was in his nature. Still, Lance tapped a few button of the pod and he could hear the sound of the reheating process taking place. It was only a few moments before heat started to return to his body and he could feel his fingers again. 

 

\-----

 

It wasn’t a gradual sensation like Keith had expected. Instead it was a single instant. One moment he couldn’t move a muscle and the next he had full range of motion. He expected that it was because he couldn’t feel the cold and if he could he wouldn’t be moving as fast as he was. 

 

Keith didn’t think about. There was no hesitation. He was purely impulse fueled by rage right now. The instant he felt life return to his limbs, Keith stepped out of the cryo-pod and punched Lance square in the jaw. The force of the punch caused Lance to stumble back a few steps, hands flying to where Keith had hit him. Keith, however, had been prepared for the pain and didn’t even flinch as it exploded on his face. 

 

“Hey! I said you weren’t aloud to punch me!” Lance said, his voice bordering on a whine. 

 

“And I don’t take orders from a guy who locked me in a cryo-pod.” Keith replied, biting off the end of every word. 

 

“Yeah, that’s fair.” Lance replied with a sigh. “But I only did it for your own good.” 

 

Keith didn’t want to hear Lance’s reasoning. He didn’t care about what could or couldn’t be inside his head. What he cared about was helping out his team. “I don’t have time for this.” He growled as he headed towards the door. 

 

“I wouldn’t try that if I were you!” Lance called but Keith ignored him. He had been around Lance too long to listen to him anymore. 

 

“Screw you, Lance.” He said as he passed through the doorframe...or almost passed through the doorframe. It was like he was in the cryo-pod all over again except it was just his legs that were affected. He couldn’t feel them, much less move them. “What the fuck?” 

 

“Told ya.” Lance called in an sickenly sweet voice. 

 

Keith rounded on him, his irritation that had been quelled by his confusion coming back in full force. “I am not afraid to punch you again.” His voice was sharp and dangerous, like every word was infused with venom. 

 

It didn’t seem to phase Lance though who only rocked back on his heels with his hands clasped behind his back, a sweet smile on his face. It looked very not-Keith and that only made him angrier. 

 

“I wonder what would happen…” Lance said, tilting his head slightly, the smile still plastered on his face. “If I were to just do this.” He took a large step backwards.

 

Keith had never been hit by a bus so he couldn’t say for certain what it felt like. But if he had to guess, he would say that it felt like exactly what happened to him the very moment Lance stepped backwards minus the pain. It was like some invisible wall and manifested and slammed into his back, sending him flying forward a few steps. 

 

“Interesting.” was all Lance said, his voice shifting into a genuinely curious tone. 

 

“What the hell was that?” Keith asked, turning around to see that nothing was there. 

 

“Isn’t it obvious?” Lance said, crossing his arms over his chest. “Something’s keeping us together. We can’t be further than say…” Lance scrunched his face up as he measured the distance between the two with his eyes. “Twenty feet apart, give or take a few feet.”

 

“Bullshit. There’s no way that’s true.” Keith replied although he had to admit that made sense. 

 

Lance just shrugged. “We can debate it later but right now we should really find out what’s going on.” 

 

Keith had all but tuned out the sirens at this point, completely forgetting that they were in the middle of some sort of battle. “Oh...right. Good idea.”

 

“When are any of my ideas ever not good?” He asked. “Actually, don’t answer that. Let’s go.”

 

\-----

 

When the two arrived on the bridge the first thing Lance noticed was that all hell had broken loose. The only person in the room was Coran who was furiously moving from monitor to monitor and speaking quickly into the comm. 

 

“Coran!” Lance called, moving alongside Keith towards him to see what was going on. “What’s happening?”

 

Coran glanced back at the two briefly before turning back toward the monitors. “Kivlak is on the ship!” He relied, not seeming to care that he had ordered Keith to sit this one out. “Pidge, Hunk, Shiro, and Allura went to find him but I’ve lost communications with Pidge. The others are trying to find them now.” 

 

“Then there’s no time to lose.” Keith said. “We’ll go look for them. Let’s suit up.” 

 

“Oh, this’ll just be a blast…” Lance muttered, thinking mostly about how well things had gone last time they faced Kivlak. And now they were supposed to do it while being basically glued at the hip? Lance was pretty sure they didn’t stand a chance. 

 

But Pidge was missing in action and Kivlak couldn’t be allowed to just walk freely around the ship. Lance guessed it was time to play the hero...well, heros.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!  
> Any and all feedback you are willing and able to give is greatly appreciated believe it or not.  
> Stay safe and I'll see ya next time!
> 
> ~Redjay


	10. Birdwatching (More like Bird"finding") Is a Sport

Keith sprinted next to Lance as the two raced down the hallway towards Pidge’s last known location. The two had only taken moments to change into their armor and grab their bayards before joining the action. According to Coran, Pidge had last checked in from their lab with Hunk so that’s where the two were going to start looking for them as well as Kivlak.

 

“Hunk what happened?” Keith asked over the comm. “Coran said Pidge was with you!”

 

“It’s kinda a long story!” Hunk called over the comm.

 

“Give us the short version!” Lance replied, his breath coming out in pants. The two entered the elevator and Keith slammed a fist on the button to make it descend towards Pidge’s lab.

 

“Pidge found out that Kivlak was on the ship so they set off the alarm. After that the lights went out in the lab and something hit me over the head. When I came to a few minutes later Pidge was gone!” Hunk explained.

 

“Shit…” Lance muttered next to Keith in the elevator. Keith could feel his grip tighten on the red bayard in his hands. They had to find Pidge. Keith didn’t plan on losing a teammate today.

 

“We’re almost to the lab. Coran, any idea where Kivlak is?”  Keith asked as the door slid open and he and Lance started running again.

  
“He’s still in that area I think...I’m looking for him now…” There was silence for a minute before Coran spoke again. “Aha! There he is! He’s headed towards the drive core!”

 

“Allura and I are the closest.” Shiro’s voice said over the comm, calm and firm. “We’ll cut him off. Hunk and Keith meet us there. Lance, head to the lab to and see if you can find out where Pidge went.”

 

“What why?” Keith asked, shooting Lance a concerned look which Lance returned.

 

“Coran said you could barely stand earlier and last time Kivlak almost killed you. I’m not risking your life.” Shiro explained.

 

“Uhh…” Lance said, voice a little shaky with uncertainty. “That’s really not a good idea. Kivlak’s pretty tough. We probably shouldn’t leave any one of us alone right now.”

 

“But I’m alone right now!” Hunk called, sounding frightened.

 

“Okay.” Shiro said after a second. “Hunk you meet Allura and I. Lance and Keith go see if you can find Pidge.”

 

“Copy that.” Keith said.

 

“I can’t believe he went for that.” Lance said, panting. The two were almost to the lab. “If I had said that he never would’ve agreed.”

 

Keith pretended he didn’t hear the slightly pained tone in his own voice for Lance’s sake. “There the lab!”

 

The two skidded to a stop in front of the green lion’s hanger door. The door slid open to reveal an empty lab. Nothing looked out of place to Keith but that really wasn’t saying much. Not many people could understand Pidge’s organized chaos.

 

“Pidge!” Lance shouted as they entered. “Pidge where are you?!”

 

There was no response. The green paladin wasn’t here, that much was obvious to Keith.

 

The two moved further into the room, approaching Pidge’s work station. “Let’s see if there’s anything on Pidge’s laptop that’ll help.” Keith suggested.

 

“Even if there is, how’re you supposed to understand it?” Lance asked. “It’s all techy mumbo jumbo.”

 

“We have to at least try.” Keith said. “Right now it’s all we’ve got.”

 

Lance didn’t respond but nodded in understanding. Keith grabbed Pidge’s laptop and moved it so he could see the screen, Lance looking over his shoulder. The screen was black and as Keith went to wake the computer up he caught sight of his and Lance’s reflections and something pur-

 

“Move!” Keith shouted, shoving Lance to the side as a purple streak cut right through where Lance had been standing. Keith didn’t hesitate to activate his bayard, returning the slash in one fluid motion. The sound of metal against metal rang throughout the room as Keith glared into the eyes of Kivlak. “You!”

 

Kivlak only let out a menacing chuckle before shifting, raising his leg and kicking Keith directly in the stomach, sending him flying back as far as the invisible force allowed him to. Keith sprang back to his feet the moment he collided with the ground. He wasn’t about to let a repeat of their last fight to happen.

 

“Where’s Pidge?!” He heard his voice shout. Keith shifted his eyes off of Kivlak and to Lance who was aiming the small black gun at Kivlak. “What did you do with them?!”

 

“Gone.” Kivlak said, an evil smirk appearing on his face. “But not to worry. They’ll be well taken care of. Lotor gives you his word.”

 

Keith felt a fire rise inside of him, his vision slightly blurring as his anger consumed him. He was tired of being jerked around by Kivlak and Lotor. He was tired of having to pretend to be Lance. He was tired of not knowing what weird thing was going to happen next. And now they had taken Pidge? Well Keith had had enough. There was not a single doubt in his mind:

 

He was going to kill Kivlak and then Lotor was next.

 

“What does Lotor want with Pidge?” Lance asked, clearly doing a better job at staying calm than Keith was.

 

Kivlak turned his head to look at Lance who was still pointing the gun at him. “Nothing except for them to stay out of the way. This is about you two and he’d prefer to keep it that way.”

 

“What does he want with us?” Lance’s voice remained steady but Keith could see his finger tensing around the trigger. He was going to shoot and Keith was ready for when he did.

 

“I see no reason to tell you.”

 

The blast came less than a second after Kivlak had finished his sentence, a purple beam leaving Lance’s gun and speeding towards the large galra. Keith moved instantly, charging Kivlak with his sword raised. He only hoped that it wasn’t too much distance between him and Lance.

 

Keith swung his sword as he neared Kivlak who had turned to deflect Lance’s shot, expecting to make contact, but was thrown off balance as the sword only hit air. Keith spun around, looking for any sign as to where he had gone.

 

“He’s...gone.” Lance said, lowering the black bayard. “He just...disappeared into thin air. How…?”

 

“What the fuck is going on?” Keith asked, feeling his anger drain away, only left with the feeling of letting his team down.

 

Pidge was gone and who knows what Lotor would do to them.

 

\-----

 

Pidge opened their eyes to a spinning room. They blinked a few times, trying to remember where they were and what had happened. The last thing they remembered was the lights going out after they had…

 

Pidge shot up in surprise which only made the room spin more.

 

“So you’re awake.”

 

Pidge recognized that voice and it sent shivers down their spine. They shifted their eyes to the tall figure standing a few feet away from them. It took a moment but the spinning seemed to stop as they focused on Lotor.

 

“Where am I?” Pidge asked, doing their best to sound brave despite the situation.

 

“The bridge of my ship.” Came the reply that sounded too casual to not be some sort of threat.

 

“...why?”

 

“You’re my prisoner, of course.” Lotor replied, gesturing to Pidge’s wrists.

 

Pidge looked down to see the handcuffs fastened around their wrists, slightly cutting into their skin. They felt their stomach clench and they did their best to swallow the bile that had risen in their throat.

 

“So…” They said after a moment. “What do you want?”

 

“Not much.” Lotor said, squatting down so he was eye level with Pidge, a sly smile on his face. “I just needed you out of the way.”

 

“So why not kill me? Why bring me here?”

 

Lotor didn’t respond, his smirk only growing slightly wider. Pidge didn’t like that.

 

“Tell me, Pidge.” Lotor said, standing up and approaching one of the consoles in the room. “How would you describe Keith and Lance’s, shall we say, relationship?”

 

“Why should I tell you?” Pidge could feel their hands slightly shaking. This was definitely not how they saw their day going.

 

“Hmm, why indeed.” Lotor said, sounding like he was talking more to himself than Pidge. He was still focused on the console, tapping lightly on it. “How about this, you answer my question and I’ll answer one of yours. Sound fair?”

 

“How do I know that you’ll actually answer my question?” Pidge asked.

 

“I’d give you my word but I don’t think you’d trust it. So I guess the simple answer is that you don’t.” Lotor’s voice was still casual, like he was talking about the weather.

 

Pidge thought for a minute. They knew they had no power in this situation. They were aboard Lotor’s ship without their armor or their bayard or anything else that might help in this situation. They knew that at any moment Lotor could decide to throw them out the nearest airlock and Pidge really didn’t want that to happen. They also knew that Lotor knew something about what had happened to Keith and Lance. They could use this to figure out what. And all Lotor wanted to know was what Pidge thought about Lance and Keith’s relationship? How much damage could that do? Was it worth the risk?

 

“Fine.” Pidge said. “Lance and Keith are...different than what they used to be.”

 

“Different how?”

 

“They...used to fight a lot but now they don’t. It’s almost like they’ve become friends.” Pidge felt the guilt start to settle inside them.

 

“Interesting…” Lotor said, still not looking at Pidge.

 

“Now you have to answer one of mine.” Pidge said.

 

“As promised. What is your question?”

 

“What are you trying to accomplish? What’s the purpose of all of this?”

 

Pidge could hear Lotor chuckle a little before saying, “I thought that might be your question. Here.” Lotor tapped a button on the console and a large monitor appeared. Pidge stared at the monitor in horror.

 

“Is that…?”

 

“Yes it is. Now tell me, Pidge.” Lotor turned to stare directly into Pidge’s eyes. “What would happen if the leader of Voltron was left without a right hand man? What would happen if the right hand man and the leader couldn’t stand to be near each other? What would happen if they became so incompatible that Voltron just...couldn’t be formed?”

 

“Wait...so you’re doing all this to cause a rift between Lance and Keith?” Pidge felt a slight laugh starting to bubble up inside them. “That’s your big plan? Please, let me know how that works out for ya.”

 

“You don’t believe I’ll succeed?” Lotor didn’t sound angry but curious.

 

“Listen,” Pidge said, gaining confidence with every word. “I’ve watched those two for months be at each other’s throats. I once saw them fight over who got the last clean spoon. And yet at the end of the day, we can still form Voltron. Every. Single. Time.”

 

“Your confidence in them is almost endearing.” Lotor said, unphased by what Pidge had said. “And lucky for you, you get a front row seat to watch it all unfold.”

 

\-----

 

“How could you let him get off this ship? He has Pidge.” Shiro wasn’t yelling at Keith and Lance. It probably would’ve been better if he had been. No, instead Lance was once again subjected to his tone of disappointment. Lance looked at the ground rather than at Shiro, not really wanting to feel worse than he already did.

 

“It wasn’t like we just let him go!” Keith was yelling and Lance didn’t really blame him. Keith was frustrated and probably felt just as guilty as Lance did about what happened. “One minute he was there and the next he was gone!”

 

The whole team had gathered in Pidge’s lab which now seemed empty without Pidge there. The others remained mostly silent, letting Shiro and Keith do most of the talking.

 

“This doesn’t matter right now. We need to find Pidge.” Shiro responded, turning to the rest of the group. “Any ideas?”

 

“Pidge was working on locating Kivlak before he attacked.” Hunk said, sounding distraught. “Maybe we can use that to locate him again. He’ll know what happened to Pidge.”

 

“But how can you use Pidge’s stuff is Pidge isn’t here?” Lance asked.

 

“No worries, my boy.” Coran said. “Between Hunk and I, I’m sure we can figure it out. We’ll just need a little time.”

 

“Get started.” Shiro said. “The sooner we find Pidge the better.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!  
> People really like the Lance and Lotor interactions and hey, I do too. But I always thought that Pidge and Lotor interactions would be amusing. So I'm really excited that I finally get to start writing them. I have some pretty entertaining moments planned for them in the future. But don't worry, it'll still be mostly focused on Lance and Keith. That's a promise.  
> Any and all feedback you are willing and able to give is greatly appreciated.  
> Stay safe and I'll see ya next time, 
> 
> ~Redjay


	11. One Problem Down...a Bunch to Go

“He’s just toying with us, ya know.” Lance said after about an hour of watching himself pace back and forth, all the while anger not leaving his face. Lance could count the times he’d gotten truly angry, like he had with Keith only a few hours prior, on one hand. It took a lot for him to get to a point where he couldn’t let something slide. So watching himself now, steam almost coming out of his ears, was a weird sensation. The expression that Keith wore looked almost unnatural, not that Keith really cared about that right now. 

 

“I know.” Keith replied, continuing his irritated pacing. His tone was sharp but not directed at Lance. 

 

Lance sighed and leaned his head back against the couch in the lounge. The two had decided to come here while they waited for Coran and Hunk to crack Pidge’s equipment. “But why?” Lance asked, closing his eyes in thought. “Why do any of this? What’s the point?” He wasn’t necessarily asking Keith, more of just asking himself.

 

“He’s a sadistic fuck.” Keith replied, offering no other explanation than that. 

 

Lance couldn’t help but snort in slight amusement, opening his eyes again. “Well, yeah. That’s a given. But from what’ve we seen so far, he’s never done anything without a purpose. There must be a reason he’s doing this. A reason that he chose us instead of the others.” 

 

“What does the reason matter?” Keith asked, stopping in front of Lance and crossing his arms in anger. “All that matters is getting Pidge back and figuring out how to fix this.” 

 

Lance could feel a slight bud of irritation start to grow inside him. “I don’t think it’s going to be that simple. In case you forgot, there’s something mechanical in your brain...probably in my brain too. That complicates things.” 

 

“Why do you always do that?” Keith asked suddenly, shooting Lance with a glare. 

 

“Do what?” Lance asked, confused. 

 

“Overthink.” Keith replied without hesitation. “Make things more complicated than they need to be. Pidge is gone. Lotor is behind this. We need to find both of them. That’s it. It’s just  that simple.”

 

Lance rolled his eyes. “Yeah, maybe in Keith-land. But for those of us in the real world, things aren’t “just that simple”. Thinking things through has kept me alive. We don’t all have the luxury of perfect instincts.”

 

Keith just huffed in response and went back to his pacing. Lance was going to count that as a win on his part. Regardless, he decided to change the topic. “Once they locate Pidge we’re probably going to have to use our lions.” It was a simple enough statement but Lance knew the weight behind it. So far they had avoided using their lions, but they couldn’t do that forever. Eventually, Voltron would need to be formed and Lance still wasn’t sure how they were going to explain the sudden lion change. “There’s also the problem that we can’t be that far away from each other and I’m pretty sure that staying within twenty feet while inside the lions is going to be impossible.”

 

The angry expression fell from Keith’s face as he stopped pacing again. This time, though, he didn’t look at Lance. He was staring at the wall, looking like he was lost in his own thoughts. “Shit…” He muttered after a few moments. 

 

Lance let a lazy smile creep onto his face at Keith’s perplexed look. It was a rare sight for Keith’s rough exterior to fall away completely. And although he would prefer to see Keith’s expression of vulnerability on Keith’s face, this was still good. Lance would take what he could get. 

 

“What are we gonna go?” Keith asked, sounding worried. 

 

“I do have one idea…” Lance said, thoughtfully. “But I’m not sure how much you’re gonna like it.”

 

“Well, what other choice do we have?” Keith asked. 

 

“Fair point.” 

 

\-----

 

“You have to admit that was weird. I’ve never seen him act like that before.” Shiro said to Allura. “That’s the kind of thing I’d expect from Keith, not Lance.” 

 

The two were on the bridge of the castle, preparing to leave at a moment’s notice. All they needed was a location and they would be on their way to finding Pidge. 

 

“Lance and Pidge are close. He was probably just upset that Kivlak got away.” Allura replied calmly while sorting through different artillery logs for the castle. 

 

“I’ve seen Lance upset.” Shiro said, shaking his head slightly. “This was not that. He was...angry. Lance doesn’t get angry.” 

 

Allura sighed. “Why don’t you just ask him if you’re that worried?” 

 

“Do you think he’ll actually tell me the truth?” 

 

Allura shrugged. “He respects you, Shiro. That doesn’t count for nothing.” 

 

Shiro knew that Allura had a point, but before he could say anything else, Keith’s voice sounded over the castle comms. 

 

“Shiro? We’ve got a bit of a situation.” 

 

Keith’s voice didn’t sound worried or tense which was more of a relief to Shiro than he’d ever let anyone know. He didn’t think the team could deal with another attack at the moment. 

 

“What’s the problem?” Shiro asked. 

 

“Come to the black lion’s hangar. I’ll explain there.” Keith replied. 

 

Shiro exchanged a concerned glance with Allura before saying. “I’ll be right there.”

 

\-----

 

Keith stood as far away from Lance and the black lion as he could, not wanting to trigger the force field surrounding the lion. He had to admit that Lance’s plan was slightly genius. So far they’d been handicapped by their current situation, but Lance had used that to their advantage this time. It was a relief to know that they weren’t completely helpless. Not that Keith would want to stay in Lance’s body. No way in hell. But it was better that he looked on the bright side since there was no end to this nightmare in sight. 

 

Lance had thought that Keith wouldn’t like this idea but he couldn’t have been further from the truth. No, this was the perfect excuse to get Shiro back in the black lion. 

 

They didn’t have to wait very long for Shiro to reach the hangar. He wore a concerned look on his face as he approached Lance. “What’s wrong Keith?” Shiro asked. 

 

Keith watched in nervous anticipation as Lance put his plan into action. 

 

“It’s Black.” He replied, glancing at the lion behind him. “He won’t let me in.”

 

“What?” Shiro asked, furrowing his brows. “What do you mean?”

 

“Look.” Lance said, turning and placing a hand on the purple force field surrounding the lion. The area where he touched shimmered for a moment but didn’t drop. “And he’s not talking to me either.”

 

Shiro was silent for a moment, his eyes shifting to the lion behind Lance. “I don’t understand…” Shiro muttered to himself after a few moments. 

 

“I think I do.” Lance replied. “Shiro, I think it’s time you try bonding with him again.”

 

Keith was surprised at how much Lance actually sounded like Keith at that moment. He had lost count of the amount of times he had tried to convince Shiro to try connecting with the black lion. 

 

“Keith...I really don’t think that’s gonna work.” Shiro said, his voice sounding like he was contemplating it. 

 

“You won’t know unless you try.” Lance replied, laying a hand on Shiro’s shoulder encouragingly. 

 

It was eerie for Keith to see himself like this. Was this what all his conversation with Shiro looked like or was Lance just hamming it up? Keith didn’t know but either way it took everything in him to not look away. 

 

And then a new thought entered his mind. How many times had Lance watched an exchange exactly like this one? How often had he been on the outside of this moment, looking in at the two? Keith had to admit that it didn’t feel great to be the third wheel in this situation. Like, the other two weren’t even aware that he was here. It caused a bad taste in his mouth and his chest to ache slightly. 

 

“...You’re right.” Shiro said finally, giving Lance a fond smile. “Thanks, Keith.” Shiro approached the purple field and hesitantly put his hand on it. Keith held his breath as he waited to see if the black lion would respond. If Black didn’t, well they were going to have a real problem on their hands. 

 

There was a full minute of silence in the hangar, all three paladins waiting for something to happen. Keith glanced at Lance who had his fists clenched into balls, no doubt feeling the intensity of the situation. 

 

And then it happened. 

 

In an instant the field dropped, the yellow of the lion’s eyes flickering to life. It leaned forward, jaw opening up and revealing the ramp that led up to the pilot’s seat. 

 

Keith felt the weight of leadership lift off his shoulders, letting out a long breath. He knew Shiro could do it. It was only a matter of time. Shiro’s expression was unreadable, a mixture of pride, relief, and a million other emotions that Keith couldn’t name even if he wanted to.  

 

Lance turned back to Keith, shooting him with a thumbs up and an overly excited smile. It didn’t matter how long he was in Keith’s body, he was still a dork. Keith couldn’t help returning Lance’s smile with a small one of his own. 

 

It was Shiro who broke the silent communication between the two. “Well, that’s one problem solved. But what are you going to fly? With Pidge gone we’re going to need all hands on deck.” Shiro was looking at Lance, his expression concerned again. 

 

Lance had already told Keith his exact response to that question. “I’ll ride with Lance.” Lance said smoothly. “I mean, just until we figure something else out.”

 

Shiro seemed to contemplate that, glancing back at Keith with a curious gaze. “And you expect me to believe that you two won’t kill each other?”

 

“Uh…” Lance said. “Yes?”

 

Keith sighed internally. It looked like Shiro was going to need a little extra convincing. Keith really hated acting like Lance. It felt...uncomfortable. Like everything he did was too loose. Lance was a flamboyant being and Keith was not, to put it plainly. But they needed Shiro to agree to this plan so Keith would bite the bullet. 

 

Keith relaxed his shoulders, plastering an easy-going look on his face that would look unnatural on his own and confidently strolled up to Lance, placing an elbow on his shoulder and leaning against it casually. “It’ll be fine, Shiro.” Keith said in the most Lance-ish voice he could muster up. “If he gives me any trouble, I’ll just kick him out.” 

 

“You ejecting him into space isn’t exactly reassuring…” Shiro said.

 

“Oh, c’mon.” Keith replied, adding a slight whine to his voice. “I promise that we won’t even fight.” 

 

Shiro sighed. “Fine, fine. Have it your way. But just make sure you stay focused on the mission.” 

 

Keith and Lance nodded, giving each other victorious looks. And just for that moment, Keith had somehow managed to convince himself that everything was going to work out. 

 

\-----

 

“See? They  _ can  _ work together.” Pidge said, watching the scene with the black lion play out from the large monitor on Lotor’s bridge. Pidge was still seated on the floor, hands bound together like the captive they were. Lotor was sitting in his captain’s chair, fingers laced together in a slightly menacing way. 

  
“I never said they couldn’t.” Lotor replied, his voice neutral. 

 

“Okay, yeah, but clearly Voltron isn’t on the verge of falling apart like you want.” The longer Pidge spent with Lotor the less they were afraid of him. He was interesting and peculiar, that was for sure, but he wasn’t nearly as frightening as Pidge had originally thought. They still knew that he could choose to kill them at any point but somehow that didn’t scare Pidge like it used to. Maybe they had come to terms with their situation or maybe Lotor drugged them with some sort of calming thing before Pidge had woken up. Either way, Pidge was slowly gaining confidence with every interaction. 

 

“On the surface, no.” Lotor said. “But I’m not really interested in the surface.”

 

“What do you mean?” Pidge asked. 

 

“Humans have so many emotions.” Lotor replied, an almost cynical tone to his voice. “The ones you show are only a small fraction of what you feel. I’m not interested in those. No, it’s the ones below, buried deep within, that I’m looking for.”

 

Pidge didn’t know how to respond to that so instead they turned their attention back to the screen and hoped that their friends came to rescue them soon. Lotor was dangerous in a way they could never even imagine.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!  
> Okay, okay, I know what you're thinking. That's not how Shiro canonically reconnected with the black lion and you'd be right. But in my defense, I had this planned out way before season 4 and unless I wanted to rework a good chunk of this story...well, it was just better to keep it like this.   
> Also, I do apologize for the delay. I had gotten to the end of my other fic and I really wanted to make sure I ended it properly so I put this one on hold for a couple weeks. The bright side of that is that this fic is now number 1 on my list. So that means more frequent updates! So yay for that, right?   
> Anyway, any and all feedback you are willing and able to give is greatly appreciated.   
> Stay safe and I'll see ya next time!
> 
> ~Redjay


	12. The Calm Before the Storm

Lance wasn’t usually one to lie to himself. It had always been a philosophy of his to not deny what he felt or whatever else flowed through his head. That didn’t mean, however, that he voiced every string of consciousness that popped into his brain. No, most of the time he would be committing verbal suicide if he did that. But even if he wasn’t completely honest with the outside world...well, at least he was honest with himself. 

 

So when Lance was suddenly standing with a hand resting on Shiro’s shoulder, doing his best to portray Keith’s undying loyalty to him, he found himself completely swept off his feet by the sheer intimacy of the moment. Lance had never been part of a moment like this. A moment that spanned a million past moments and a million past conversations. A moment where everything was stripped away except for the admiration and unconditional trust that Keith and Shiro had always possessed. 

 

And while Lance should have been ecstatic, finally experiencing the bond he had always wanted with Shiro, he wasn’t. Rather, he felt hollow. Like the moment had sapped something out of him that he never knew he had, leaving him empty and barren. 

 

It wasn’t a mystery to Lance as to why he was feeling this way. The small voice in the back of his mind reminding him that this moment was for Keith, not him, was enough to keep him grounded in reality. And in this reality, Lance had been lying to himself. He had for months been telling himself that watching Keith and Shiro’s bond grow hadn’t bothered him. That always being on the outside of these moments hadn’t made him feel outcasted, forgotten, or neglected. But now, seeing it first hand? It was harder than Lance could have ever imagined. He came to the harsh realization that he was bothered by these moments. They  _ did _ stir feelings of loneliness and neglect. 

 

And, if Lance was being completely honest with himself, he wasn’t sure how much longer he could keep up this facade of being Keith if these moments kept happening. 

 

“Fine, fine. Have it your way. But just make sure you stay focused on the mission.” 

 

Lance was jerked out of his head by Shiro reluctantly agreeing to let him and Keith ride in the red lion together. Lance glanced at Keith, giving him a small smile of victory. That was one problem down it seemed and while there was still so many questions that were unanswered, Lance would take what he could get. 

 

\-----

 

“Man...I wish Pidge were here…” Lance said, banging his head softly on the counter in front of him repeatedly. 

 

“Would you stop that?” Keith replied, sounding slightly irritated. “You’re giving me a headache.” Keith was leaning on the opposite side of the counter, snacking on the space cookies that Hunk had left out from before the attack. 

 

“Sorry…” Lance muttered, resting his cheek against the cool of the counter. “I’m just...tired of being you, ya know? It’s exhausting.” 

 

“What? And you think being you is easy?” Keith replied, narrowing his eyes a little. 

 

“Well, yeah.” Lance replied with a smirk sent in Keith’s direction, knowing that it would get a rise out of him. “I mean, I’m awesome. You should be honored that you get to be me while I’m stuck in this short body having to pretend to be broody and stoic all the time.” 

 

“I’m not  _ that  _ short.” Keith practically spit at him, eyebrows furrowed in anger. “You’re just freakishly tall.”

 

“So what’s it like seeing the tops of people’s heads for the first time? Was it everything you dreamt it would be?” Lance asked endearingly, making Keith’s voice as sweet as he possible could. 

 

Keith pounded a fist against the table in anger, his jaw visibly clenching as he tried to rein himself in. Lance decided to ignore the dull ache that suddenly resonated up his arm, instead sending another sickeningly sweet smile Keith’s way. 

 

“Pidge.” Was all Keith said from between clenched teeth. 

 

Lance raised an eyebrow at him. “Pidge? What about them?”

 

“I can see the top of Pidge’s head.” 

 

Lance couldn’t stop himself from laughing, grabbing his stomach with one hand and wiping his eyes with the other. It wasn’t often that Keith got mad enough to play along. “Pidge doesn’t count. They’re like a gremlin. Everyone can see the top of their head.”

 

\-----

 

“Rude. You know what you are, Lance? You’re a fucking giraffe!” Pidge said with a huff. 

 

“I don’t understand. What is a…”gremlin”?” Lotor asked, sounding actually curious. 

 

If Pidge had the ability to cross their arms, they would. Instead, they had to settle with turning their head in the saltiest way they could. “I don’t want to talk about it.” 

 

Lotor seemed to accept that answer, only muttering, “Suit yourself.” before turning back to the screen. 

 

\-----

 

“They totally count.” Keith replied, shooting Lance with an intense glare. 

 

Lance held up his hands in mock surrender, still chuckling to himself. “Sure, buddy. Whatever you say. But seriously, I really wish Pidge were here.”

 

Keith visibly relaxed as the conversation turned in a new direction. “Why? I mean, I know that they’re the only one who knows about our...situation but…” Keith trailed off, a confused look on his face.

 

“Because they could probably figure out what is in our heads...well, my head. We don’t actually know if it’s in your head or not.” Lance explained, reaching up and tapping gently on Keith’s head for emphasis. “Either way, Pidge could probably come up with some magic sciency head...reader...thing...that could figure out what it is.” 

 

“Head reader thing?” Keith asked amusedly. 

 

“You know what I mean.” Lance replied with a roll of his eyes. “I know that we have to wait until Coran and Hunk find a location, but I just feel like we’re wasting time by just sitting around. We should be  _ doing  _ something...I’m just not sure what that something is.” Lance rested his cheek back on the cold countertop in exasperation, letting out a long sigh to accompany the motion. 

 

“I think what you need is a distraction.” Keith said plainly. 

 

“What?” Lance asked, glancing up at Keith. 

 

“A distraction.” Keith repeated. “Look, the reality is that there is nothing we can do right now. We can’t locate Kivlak. We can’t magically bring Pidge back. Until Hunk and Coran find something, we’re at a standstill.”

 

“Thanks for that. Not being able to help save my friend makes me feel loads more useful.” Lance replied sarcastically. 

 

“What I mean is that we might as well find some way to pass the time while we wait.” Keith said, ignoring Lance’s sarcastic tone. 

 

Lance sat up, slightly intrigued. “Do you have something in mind?” 

 

Keith shrugged. “Maybe. But I’m not really sure you can handle it.” 

 

Lance let out a bark of laughter before saying in a challenging tone, “Try me, Kogane. Try me.”

 

\-----

 

“Okay, I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know what’s going on.” Lance said, staring at the long hallway in front of him. “There’s nothing here.”

 

Keith suppressed the chuckle that wanted to escape his lips at Lance’s perplexion. “What do you see in front of you?” 

 

“Um...it’s a hallway. It looks like every other hallway on this ship.” Lance replied, sounding confused.

 

“Well, obviously.” Keith said with a roll of his eyes. “But what else?”

 

Lance peered down the hallway, squinting his eyes a little. “I guess it’s kinda...long?”

 

“Exactly.” Keith said with a nod of his head. “It’s a long hallway.”

 

“And…?” Lane asked, raising an eyebrow at Keith. 

 

Keith sighed. It looked like he was going to have to spell it out for Lance. “Have you ever noticed what material our under armor is made out of?” 

 

“Some altean fabric? I dunno…” Lance replied slowly. 

 

“That’s not what I meant.” Keith said with a shake of his head. “Like, have you ever felt it?” 

 

Lance still looked confused as he answered. “Well, yeah. Of course I have. I mean I wear it all the time…” Lance’s eyes suddenly widened. “You’re not suggesting…?” 

 

“That’s exactly what I’m suggesting.” Keith said with a smirk. In all honesty, Keith had been wanting to do something like this for months but never had a reason to. Now with Lance here, needing a distraction from the chaos that was their life, he had the perfect opportunity to try. “I propose to you a little competition. Who ever makes it the farthest down the hall wins.”

 

Lance returned Keith’s smirk with one of his own. “Might I suggest that we make this a little more interesting?” 

 

“How so?”

 

“Whoever loses has to do one thing that the winner says, no backing out and no questions asked.” Lance said. “That is...unless you’re too scared.”

 

Keith’s hand immediately shot out at Lance’s words. “You’re on.” 

 

Lance grabbed Keith’s hand and shook it, the smirk not leaving his face. “Prepare to go down, Kogane.”

 

“In your dreams, McClain.”

 

\-----

 

“Who do you think will win?” Pidge asked Lotor. 

 

“Does it matter?” He replied, sounding bored. 

 

Pidge shrugged. “Not really. But it could pass the time a little.”

 

Lotor sighed and said, “Obviously Keith will win. He came up with the idea so I’m sure he’s done this before. He’ll have more experience, know the best way to increase his distance and such.”

 

“Wow, I’ve never heard someone be more wrong.” Pidge said with mock surprise. 

 

“How am I wrong?” Lotor asked. 

 

“Lance is going to win hands down. He’s got the power of Keith’s legs and man, have you seen those things? He never misses leg day. Yeah, with those legs Lance is going to push off with more force, sending him further down the hallway.”

 

“Your logic is flawed.” Lotor said, a hint of a challenge in his voice. 

 

“You think so?” 

 

“I know so.”

 

“Okay, tough guy. I suggest we have our own little bet. If I’m right and Lance wins, you have to take these cuffs off me.”

 

“Hmm…” Lotor said, looking like he was contemplating the idea. “Alright, I’ll play along, but if I win, you grant me access to your ship’s data logs.”

 

Pidge swallowed hard. They hadn’t been expecting that. “Fine.” They agreed. “You’ve got yourself a deal.” 

 

Lotor only sent one of his menacing smiles Pidge’s way before turning back to the screen. Pidge could feel the nervous sweat dripping down the side of their face. “C’mon, Lance.” They muttered to themselves. “Don’t let me down now.”

 

\-----

 

It hadn’t taken them long to strip down to only their under armor. Keith could feel the tense atmosphere as they agreed on the ground rules and where the push off point was. They weren’t allowed to touch each other or hinder the other in any way, they weren’t allowed to lift their feet off the ground after the push off point, and they weren’t allowed to use the wall to propel themselves further down the hall. 

 

Now the two were lined up about fifty feet away from the push off point, both of them tense and ready to get started. 

 

“Okay, on three.” Keith said, his voice low and almost threatening. Keith could already feel his feet sliding against the metallic floor of the hall. There was no doubt in his mind that both of them were going to slide quite a distance.

 

“Whenever you’re ready.” Lance said, his tone just as dangerous sounding as Keith’s. 

 

“One…” Keith said, the adrenaline starting to pump through him. He could practically hear his heart pounding against his ribs. 

 

“Two…” Next to him, Lance rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck. 

 

“Three!” 

 

The two of them took off down the hall, arms flailing as they tried to gain traction and keep their balance. It was a struggle for both of them, feet slipping and sliding against the hard floor, but after a few steps, they had both managed to steady themselves. 

 

Keith pushed Lance’s legs into overdrive, trying to gain as much speed as he could before the push off point. Next to him, Lance was doing the same. They both sprinted at full speed, not even bothering to glance at each other as the push off point approached. 

 

Twenty feet...ten feet...five feet…

 

Keith hit the push off point, using all the strength he could muster up to propel himself forward and down the hall. 

 

Keith was going to win. Of that, he was absolutely positive. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and I hoped you enjoyed it!  
> I thought it was about time the mood lighten a little, ya know? Throw some more shenanigans in there for ya'll to enjoy. At least, I had a ton of fun writing this chapter.  
> Anyway, as always any and all feedback you are willing and able to give is greatly appreciated.   
> Stay safe and I'll see ya next time!
> 
> ~Redjay


	13. Sore Winners

Lance was the youngest of his family and as such, had often relied on his older siblings to keep him entertained. His mother would often dump Lance into his sibling’s care whenever she wanted to get any sort of work done. It wasn’t a secret to Lance that his siblings weren’t ever really thrilled to have to watch their younger brother. Lance had been told more often than not how annoying he was as a child, constantly talking and having a seemingly endless store of energy. Regardless of that, some of Lance’s fondest memories of his childhood were made during the time he spent with siblings, in particular his brother. 

 

Lance had always idolized his brother. Even now, when he was a defender of the universe, Lance looked up to him. During hairy situations or deadly firefights, he often found himself wondering what his brother would do. And if Lance was to be truthful with himself, he missed his brother the most. 

 

There would be nights were Lance was feeling especially homesick that he would lay on his bed and simply think back to the times he spent with his brother. Like when his brother had taught him to ride a bike, or the first time his brother had taken him to the beach, or the time his family had taken a skiing vacation and his brother had taken him to a small pond he had found a little ways away from the resort. Neither of them had ice skates so they had to rely on their snow boots to slide them over the frozen pond. Lance had spent hours at that little pond, finding much more fun in flying across the ice instead of skiing. 

 

So of course in Lance’s young mind, he had made it a competition with his brother to see who could slide further across the ice. His brother won most of the time, his heavier weight allowing him to travel further across the ice, but Lance had learned some special tactics to get himself to go further. Tactics that Lance was employing now. 

 

If Lance had to guess, he would say that Keith’s body was lighter than his own - mostly due to the difference in their height. He really wanted to win. The thought of having Keith owe him a favor that could literally be  _ anything _ Lance wanted was too tempting to pass up. Not to mention that owing Keith a favor was a somewhat scary position to be in. Keith would probably use him as target practice or something dangerous like that. 

 

As soon as Lance hit the push off point he used the strength of Keith’s legs to propel himself forward. He was glad that being in Keith’s body had finally come in handy for something. He knew that if he was going to win he had to keep his balance. If he lost that, it was all over. Lance bent his knees, keeping his center of gravity low. He shifted one foot in front of the other, turning his hips ever so slightly, and spread his arms to keep his balance. 

 

And for just a moment, Lance felt like he was back home, riding wave after wave alongside his brother. 

 

But it was only for a moment. 

 

He could feel Keith’s presence next to him still, only adding more fuel to the fire of Lance’s determination. He would not lose. Lance was tired of always coming in second place to Keith. No matter how many times they fought together or flew together, there had always been a rift between the two. A rift that always left Lance a few steps behind Keith, always wanting to catch up but never being able to. 

 

But not this time. No, this time Lance would leave Keith behind. He would win and for once, they would be meeting on equal grounds. Lance wanted that so badly. Lance needed it. 

 

Lance could feel himself starting to slow down and he glanced to the side so see Keith doing the same, his expression set in seriousness. Even if Keith had said this was just a distraction, something to pass the time, he was taking it as serious as Lance was. Keith’s competitive nature wouldn’t allow anything else. 

 

Lance sunk even lower to the ground, trying to maximize the distance he traveled. He could feel himself pulling ahead of Keith, even if it was only slightly. He glanced once more at Keith, expecting to see a defeated expression, or at least even a surprised one. He was going to lose, after all. But instead he was met with the smallest of smiles, one that Lance would have missed if it had been on any other face but his own. There was a satisfactory look in his eyes, as if he had already come to terms with his defeat and... _ accepted it? _

 

Oh, hell no! That was not okay with Lance. No way, no how. 

 

A moment later Keith stopped moving all together, Lance sliding another foot or so before stopping and straightening out. Lance had won, fair and square. He hadn’t cheated or been given a handicap. He had one hundred percent beaten Keith. He should’ve felt elated. He should’ve been jumping for joy and rubbing it in Keith’s face. He should’ve felt like he was on top of the world.

 

So, why then did he just feel pissed off?

 

“You won.” Keith said, his tone matter-of-fact. “Congrats.”

 

Lance let out a snort and said, “Course I did. There was never a chance that I wouldn’t.” Lance crossed his arms and shot a glare at Keith. “So you owe me a favor now.”

 

If Keith noticed Lance’s glare he chose to ignore it which only pissed Lance off more. “True. So, what would you like me to do?” 

 

“Ha! As if I would cash in on that favor now.” Lance replied with a curt laugh. “I’m definitely saving it.”

 

“Saving it?” Keith asked. “Saving it for what?” 

 

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Lance said in a mocking tone. 

 

He saw a flash of annoyance cross Keith’s expression but in the end Keith just shrugged and said, “Whatever you want.”

 

In truth, Lance had no idea what the favor was going to be, but he had a feeling that he would know it when he saw it. This was a rare opportunity, after all. He wasn’t about to let it go to waste.

 

\-----

 

“That’s what I call a win for Pidge!” Pidge practically shouted the moment that Keith stopped moving and Lance passed him. “I knew you wouldn’t let me down, Lance!” 

 

“It was luck, nothing more.” Lotor said from where he was still sitting, his voice holding just a hint of irritation that didn’t go unnoticed by Pidge. 

 

“Call it what you will.” Pidge said, unable to contain their happiness. “I still won this bet. You know what that means.” Pidge held out their wrists towards Lotor. 

 

Without another word, Lotor tapped a button on the console next to him and Pidge felt the weight of the cuffs disappear. There was a loud clang as they fell onto the floor of the bridge. Pidge rubbed their wrists where the cuffs had been, trying to sooth the raw and irritated skin. 

 

“Even with those restraints gone,” Lotor said, a threatening tone to his voice. “Remember that you are still on my ship. One wrong move and I won’t hesitate to relieve Voltron of its green paladin.”

 

Pidge felt the now familiar feeling of fear grip their insides. Getting killed wouldn’t help anyone. So Pidge would play by Lotor’s rules for now and wait to get the upper hand. 

 

\-----

 

Keith would be lying to himself if he said he wasn’t worried about the favor he now owed Lance. It was no secret to Keith that Lance sometimes had eccentric ideas. What if Lance asked him to do something...unbecoming of himself. 

 

But Keith wasn’t someone who went against his word. He had lost, no doubt about it. So all he could do was wait for Lance to cash in on his favor and hope that it would be something manageable. 

 

“Everyone, report to the bridge.” Allura’s voice said over the intercom. “We’ve got a lead on Kivlak.” 

 

Keith looked at Lance whose guarded expression had turned to one of relief. “C’mon. Let’s hurry.” 

 

“Yeah.” Lance replied with a nod.

 

The two of them raced back to where they had discarded their armor, trying their best not to fall. Once they got there, they put their armor back on in silence and then headed towards the bridge. 

 

Keith wasn’t too excited to face off against Kivlak again. The previous encounters hadn’t exactly ended well for him. It only served to make matters worse that whatever damage he took would actually hurt Lance. That added an extra layer of anxiety in an already stressful fight. 

 

But Pidge was gone and Keith was certain it was because of his and Lance’s unique situation. He wasn’t about to abandon them. So, he would face Kivlak again and this time he would win for Pidge and Lance’s sake. 

 

They arrived on the bride to see everyone else already there. “What do ya got?” Keith asked as they entered the large room. 

 

“Kivlak’s last known position.” Coran answered, not looking at the others in the room but instead tapping on the console in front of him. Keith watched as the large screen changed to display a nearby star system. There was a blinking red circle that Keith assume was Kivlak. 

 

“So where is he?” Lance asked, arms crossed and weight shifted to one leg. Even now, with Pidge’s life on the line, Lance was doing his best to act like Keith. Keith had to admit, he was a little impressed at Lance’s ability to compartmentalize his emotions and stay focused. It was definitely a skill Keith did not possess. 

 

“The Trigaluve system.” Coran said. “It’s a system made up of three axia stars, what you Earthers would call neutron stars.” 

 

“Wait, that doesn’t make sense.” Lance said, his voice confused. “Neutron stars are formed from supernovas. There can’t be three in one system. How could there be three supernovas so close together? It’s just not possible.” 

 

Keith glanced at Lance next to him, a slightly shocked expression on his face. Where had that come from?

 

“While I don’t disagree with you,” Coran replied. “In this case, it seems the impossible is possible. No one is quite sure how these stars came to reside in the same system. But what we do know is that the gas clouds surrounding them mix together forming an element called Axionite.” 

 

“Axionite?” Shiro asked. 

 

“It’s a highly volatile element. Dangerous but if handled correctly, it can be quite useful.” Coran answered. 

 

“Used how?” Hunk asked.

 

“Before it was outlawed by King Alfor, people mined Axionite to...teleport.”

 

“What? You mean like disappear only to reappear somewhere else?” Lance asked, surprise evident in his voice.

 

“It’s not quite that simple.” Coran said, turning to them and shaking his head.

 

“It works a lot like the Teleduv.” Allura said. “But instead of creating a wormhole for a ship, it allowed for an individual to create a small enough wormhole for just themselves to slip through. And just about anyone could use it.”

 

“That’s insane.” Keith said. “Why haven’t you mentioned this before?” 

 

“It was outlawed and for good reason.” Allura replied. “Not only is it dangerous, there’s also a catch to using it. It’s like a drug. Once you use it, it becomes addicting. Makes you want to use it more. The more you use it, the more you become addicted. Eventually, nothing else matters to you. You stop sleeping, eating. And then you die.” 

 

“I vote that we stay far away from this Anxionite stuff.” Hunk said, worry in his voice. 

 

“So that’s how Kivlak got off this ship so fast…” Shiro said, deep in thought. “But aside from kidnapping Pidge, what would Kivlak want with Axionite?” 

 

“That’s something I intend to find out.” Allura said. “Get to your lions. It’s time to get some answers.”

 

Keith couldn't agree more. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!  
> Can anyone else say hiatus? Sorry about that. Thanks for being so patient. But I'm back now with full intentions of updating regularly again. I'm shooting for at least one chapter a week but I will crank out two if I can.   
> Any and all feedback you are willing and able to give is greatly appreciated.   
> Stay safe and I'll see ya next time!
> 
> ~Redjay


	14. Flight of the Red Lion

“Ya know, when I said that you wouldn’t have a lion anymore I didn’t mean that _I_ would be the one without the lion.” Lance said from where he was seated on the ground of the red lion’s cockpit, legs spread out in front of him, slouched against the back of the pilot’s chair. He had his arms crossed, an irritated look on his face.

 

“Don’t whine.” Keith replied from the pilot’s seat. “It would look weird if I was suddenly piloting Red and not you.”

 

Logically, Lance knew that he was right, but that didn’t mean he had to be happy about it. Lance reached out and stroked the floor a few times. “Don’t worry, girl.” He said in a soothing voice. “You’ll have ol’ Lancy Lance back soon.”

 

“You’re ridiculous.” He heard Keith mutter. There was a silence between them for a moment before Keith spoke again. “So, what was that back there?”

 

“What was what?” Lance asked.

 

“Ya know, all that space talk.”

 

Lance felt his face grow red and he let out an embarrassed laugh. “So you noticed that, huh?”

 

He heard Keith scoff. “How could I not? It kinda came out of nowhere.”

 

Lance chose not to respond, hoping that Keith would just drop it. Now really wasn’t the time to get into all that anyway.

 

“So what? Is it supposed to be a secret or something?” Keith asked much to Lance’s disappointment.

 

“No, not really…” He said, leaning his head back against the chair and letting out a small sigh. “Truth is, I was waitlisted. Barely got into the garrison.” Keith didn’t say anything so Lance continued. “I was so pumped to just get in. My mom even threw me a party. I was on top of the world.” Lance paused for a moment, collecting his thoughts. He wasn’t exactly sure why he was telling Keith any of this. There was a time where Keith would’ve been the last person he told. “But once I got to the garrison, I realized just how far behind everyone else I actually was.” Lance let out a pitiful laugh. “I mean, Pidge had all the tech stuff down and Hunk covered all the mechanical stuff...and the _one_ thing that I was supposed to be good at I couldn’t even do…I mean, how could I ever hope to live up to the standards of our class’s ace pilot?” Lance pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them, feeling small. “So I found something that I was good at. Something that could be useful.”

 

“Space.” Keith said. It wasn’t a question.

 

“Space.” Lance replied. “Everything was so big that it just made sense. There has always been a reason why things are the way they are out here. So when Coran said that three neutron stars where in the same system…”

 

“Something didn’t make sense.” Keith finished for him.

 

“Yeah.” Lance said quietly. “And if one thing doesn’t make sense, what else out there do I have wrong? I’m back where I started.”

 

“Okay, paladins!” Coran said over the comm, cutting off whatever Keith was going to say and effectively ending the conversation. “We’re approaching the system. Kivlak’s ship seems to be near the smallest of the three stars.”

 

“Roger that.” Shiro said.

 

“What’s the plan?” Keith asked.

 

“We need to capture Kivlak so we can interrogate him.” Shiro replied.

 

“Uh, I don’t think Kivlak’s the kinda Galra that’s just gonna give up that information.” Hunk said in an unsure voice.

 

“Agreed.” Shiro said. “That’s why we’re going to capture his ship too. With luck we’ll be able to extract some data from it. Get ready everyone, we launch in thirty.”

 

Lance stood up, rolling his shoulders as he turned to lean against the pilot’s seat. He pushed aside all of the emotions that had surfaced after his little talk with Keith. He could deal with those later. Kivlak was what mattered now. “Time for some payback.” He muttered to himself.

 

“It’s been long overdue.” Keith said, not turning to look at Lance.

 

“Keith and Lance, you guys are on the offensive.” Shiro said. “Kivlak’s bound to have Galra fighters. Keep them distracted as long as you can.”

 

“That’s just a fancy way of calling us bait.” Lance said under his breath. If Keith heard him he didn’t show it.

 

“Hunk and Allura, you’re on incapacitation. If we are going to take his ship we need to be sure it’s unflyable. Start by taking out it’s ion cannon.”

 

“What about you, Shiro?” Keith asked.

 

“Once the cannon’s down, I’m going to infiltrate the ship.” Shiro said, no hesitation in his voice.

 

“Alone?” Keith replied, a slight strain to his voice.

 

“Kivlak almost killed you once.” Shiro replied. “I can’t afford to take a chance like that again. We can’t afford any slip ups with Pidge being captured.”

 

Lance did his best to ignore the slight pang that he felt in his stomach. He knew Shiro didn’t mean it like an insult, but with Lance’s self-confidence at a new all-time low there was no way something like that wouldn’t hurt, nevermind that it wasn’t actually him that got himself hurt.

 

\-----

 

“Aren’t you gonna warn Kivlak about them?” Pidge asked, looking over their shoulder at Lotor. They had abandoned their spot on the ground, instead choosing to stand closer to screen. Pidge had started to lose feeling in their legs from sitting for so long, so standing was really in their best interest at the moment.

 

“Why would I do that?” Lotor asked, a somewhat sly looking smile dancing on his lips.

 

“Because Kivlak is going to be caught completely by surprise and my team is gonna capture him?” Pidge said, feeling somewhat foolish for stating something so obvious.

 

“And miss this opportunity?” Lotor replied.

 

“What opportunity?” Pidge couldn’t help but ask.

 

All they got in return was a menacing smile. Pidge didn’t like that at all.

 

\-----

 

“We’re in position, Paladins!” Coran said. “Good luck!”

 

Lance grabbed the pilot’s seat to keep his balance as Red began to move under Keith’s direction. Lance had never flown with Keith before. Sure, he’d seen Keith fly loads of times but he had never been in the same cockpit as Keith while he flew. And no, Lance was not counting the terrifying, falling-off-a-cliff ride Keith had given them the night they rescued Shiro. Lance soon realized that there was a huge difference between watching from a distance and actually experiencing Keith’s abilities.

 

Watching Keith fly from the outside was mesmerizing, Lance could admit. No matter what he was piloting, Keith had a graceful way of maneuvering. His ships seemed to bank and dive in seemingly natural ways that were impossible to imitate. It was like Keith actually _was_ the ship and not just its pilot. When Keith started piloting the red lion, it was like Lance was seeing a work of art, movement between lion and pilot completely synchronized. It was beautiful, leaving Lance more than a little jealous.

 

Being in the lion with Keith was an entirely different experience. Lance had a hard time staying on his feet. Every small movement Lance was entirely unprepared for. When Lance thought Keith should make one move, he would make the opposite, leaving Lance constantly gripping the seat just to keep upright. As a fellow pilot and paladin, Lance was frustrated that he couldn’t understand Keith’s ability even from up close.  

 

“There’s his ship.” Keith said.

 

Out the front window Lance could see a small command ship, probably only about four times the size of the black lion. Big enough to have a substantial amount of fighter ships but small enough to make tight maneuvers. The ship was situated on the outer edge of a cloud of indigo-colored gas. Lance guessed that was the Axonite. Just a little ways off in the distance was one of the three neutron stars, it’s white light blinding to look at.

 

“Okay, so” Lance said over the comm so everyone could hear him. “That neutron star is extremely dangerous. It’s about thirty-seven times hotter than the sun back home and its gravitational pull is really strong. Stay far away from it. I don’t even think our lions could survive a run in with one of them.”

 

“Man, Keith. I didn’t know you were such a space nerd.” Hunk said, a hint of admiration in his voice.

 

Lance couldn’t help but roll his eyes. He really couldn’t catch a break.

 

“Alright, team. Let’s focus up.” Shiro said. “Kivlak’s bound to notice us at any moment.”

 

As if one cue, twenty or so fighters started spilling out of Kivlak’s ship, heading straight towards the four lions.

 

“We’re up.” Keith said, pushing Red’s controls forwards and speeding ahead of the others in order to meet the fighters head on.

 

\-----

 

Keith had really missed the red lion. He had forgotten the feeling of being _this_ agile, free from the burden of leading. He hadn’t minded the black lion, but the red lion was where his heart lay. Not that he had any plans to take the red lion away from Lance. No, he still may be the red paladin but the days of piloting Red were over and he knew it. So he was going to enjoy the little time he had left with her while he could.

 

Keith felt a slight smirk appear on his face as Red raced towards the fighters. They stood no chance against him and Red and he knew it. Keith let his mind go blank, allowing his focus to sharpen on what was in front of him. He could feel the red lion on the edge of his conscious and Keith leaned into her, using her presence to calm and guide him.

 

The distance was closing between them and the fighters but Keith didn’t waver in his charge. He knew what he was going to do. He trusted his instinct just as much as he trusted Red’s. He knew he needed to get the fighters to solely focus on him and that’s what he planned to do.

 

“Keith…?” He heard Lance say from behind him, uncertainty in his voice.

 

Keith didn’t respond. Now was not the time for hesitation, it was time for action. And Keith was good at action. The fighters were within firing range now, not that that posed any challenge to him. Keith smoothly maneuvered out of the path of the lasers, rolling and swerving as if it were second nature to him. Nevertheless, he still kept his charge, heading towards the center of the fighters. Just a few more moments and they would be upon the red lion.

 

“Keith!”

 

Just before they smashed in the to first one, Keith abruptly shifted the controls, sending the lion into dive, shooting below the fighters. The smirk on his face remained as he pulled out of the dive.

 

“You’re insane! What was that for?” He heard Lance say for over his shoulder.

 

“To get their attention. We need to draw them away from Kivlak’s ship.” Keith replied. “And it worked.” He nodded towards one of the screens, twenty blinking purple lights now following them.

 

“Okay, great.” Lance said. “We’ve got their attention. Now what?”

 

“Now, we attack.” Keith said, stopping Red in her tracks and swinging her around to face the fighters once again. Using Red’s tail laser, Keith aimed at the pack of fighters, shooting at them as they drew near. He saw three of them explode before he had to pull Red out of the way of the oncoming fire.

 

“I’m starting to feel a lot like Hunk…” Lance said, sounding uneasy.

 

“Puke in here and you have to clean it up!” Keith said, an unintended sharpness to his voice brought on by the adrenaline coursing through him.

 

“What?!” Came Lance’s reply. “But it’s _your_ puke technically!”

 

Keith didn’t respond, too busy darting between the fighters which were now swarming Red. He fired at some, rammed into others, and dodged the many lasers that were sent their way. Keith always flew his best when he was with Red and this time was no different. Soon, there was only a couple fighters left.

 

“Holy crow, Lance!” Keith heard Hunk say over the comm. “You’re flying better than ever!”

 

Everything seemed to stop, a memory penetrating through Keith’s dominating instincts.

 

 _“and the_ one _thing that I was supposed to be good at I couldn’t even do…I mean, how could I ever hope to live up to the standards of our class’s ace pilot?”_

 

Keith glanced over his shoulder at his own face, recognizing the expression that was on it. It was the same expression he himself had made so many times after he’d been kicked out of the garrison.

 

Complete and utter hopelessness.

 

Something inside Keith snapped. It was like the dam that he hadn’t known existed suddenly broke, sending tidal waves of emotions over him. And in this moment, there was one that stood out above all the rest.

 

Keith had the insatiable and uncontrollable desire to protect Lance, even if it only meant that he wouldn’t have to see that look ever again.

 

\-----

 

Pidge heard Lotor stand abruptly and they turned to look at him. He was staring at the large screen, watching Keith and Lance fight off the fighters with the red lion. Lotor’s brow was furrowed, as if he was unsure about something.

 

“What is it?” Pidge asked, curiosity getting the better of them,

 

Lotor didn’t say anything but instead leaned down and tapped a few times on the console next to him. Pidge the feed rewind just a little before it paused. Lotor tapped a couple more times, zooming in on Lance’s - which was really Keith of course - face.

 

“Shock.” Lotor said. “That’s what emotion that is, yes?”

 

Pidge studied the expression etched upon Lance’s feature. “Yeah, I guess. Why?”

 

Lotor let out a menacing chuckle. “It seems Keith has had a realization of sorts. Finally.”

 

“Realization? What realization?” Pidge asked, confused.

 

“Patience, my dear paladin.” Lotor responded, settling back into his seat, an evil smile forming on his lips. “We’re almost to the breaking point. You’ll see soon enough.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!  
> Okay, so listen guys...I'm not 100% sure all of the science in this chapter is correct. Like, I did research so I'm fairly certain it's accurate but it could also be very very wrong. So if you're like, "Hmm, that doesn't add up. That's not how space works. She clearly doesn't know what she's talking about." then I'm sorry, okay? I am a psych and criminal justice major. I study psychopathology and how it might contribute to violent crimes. I most certainly do not study anything having to do with astronomy or astrophysics or "hard" science in general. So please forgive me for any mistakes.  
> That being said, any and all feedback you are willing and able to give is greatly appreciated.  
> Stay safe and I'll see ya next time!
> 
> ~Redjay


	15. Forcing a Dis"arm"mament

“Ya know, there’s a flaw in your plan.” Pidge said, a hint of smugness present in their voice. Pidge could see that Lotor was keeping something from them. Something that would explain why he would go to such great lengths to mess with Keith and Lance. Pidge new that if they ever had any hope of getting the upper hand in this situation, they needed to know what that “something” was. 

 

“Oh please, do enlighten me.” Lotor said, sounding somewhat... _ happy _ ? That unsettled Pidge more than they thought it would. Nevertheless, they powered on. 

 

“Your goal here is to make it so Voltron can’t be formed, right?” Pidge said. “And technically you’ve done that by kidnapping me. But we both know that isn’t permanent. If I’m rescued or something, Voltron could still be formed. If I don’t escape or you kill me or whatever, eventually a new green paladin will be found.” Pidge paused for a moment to collect their thoughts. “So, I can understand wanting to cause a rift or whatever between Lance and Keith so Voltron can’t be formed. It’s a more permanent way of crippling Voltron. But, Shiro is piloting the black lion again. So it’s pointless to continue splitting them up. Voltron can be formed even if they are on bad terms since they both pilot the red lion.”

 

Lotor rested his head on his fist, his elbow propped up on the arm of his chair. “You’re not wrong.” He said, sounding unphased. “I must admit I’m impressed by your perceptive capabilities. Humans are such fascinating creatures, truly.” 

 

“Gee, thanks.” Pidge said, rolling their eyes. “I’ll make sure I let them all know when I get back to Earth that we have your seal of approval.” Pidge didn’t try to hide the sarcasm in their voice. 

 

A sly smile appeared on Lotor’s face. “Tell me, Pidge. Do you believe making them hate each other is the only way to cause a rift?” 

 

Pidge shot Lotor with a confused look. “Yes…?”

 

“How naive.” Lotor replied, his tone casual. “I suppose you are too young to understand.” 

 

Pidge felt a wave of anger hit them. “Hey! I’m old enough to understand my own friends, no matter what you think!” Pidge crossed their arms in irritation. “Besides, none of that will matter with Shiro piloting the black lion.” 

 

“True.” Lotor said, chuckling slightly to himself. “However, I think that problem will soon be fixed.”

 

\-----

 

It was a blow Lance hadn’t been expecting. He knew that Hunk had meant it as a compliment. There was no way Hunk knew that it was Keith piloting and not him. So, no, Lance didn’t blame Hunk. He didn’t even really blame anyone. They were in a shitty situation, nothing Lance could do about that. 

 

When Lance had realized that he was in Keith’s body a few days ago he had been shocked, sure. He had quickly learned that being Keith was a lot trickier than he had originally anticipated. But he never would have imagined that this situation would come with its own set of heartaches. Lance had been sorely underprepared for that. Who would’ve thought that in order for Lance to truly face his flaws he needed to leave his own body?

 

Lance couldn’t escape the fact that people treated him different when he was Keith, Shiro being the biggest example. But it went beyond just Shiro. There was this certain level of trust and respect that he received when he entered the room. A trust that was built upon Keith’s ace abilities, both in combat and in the pilot’s seat. A trust that Lance didn’t realize existed until he was living it, knowing that trust would never be extended to him. 

 

Lance really wanted to get back to his own body, if only to escape the realities that had been thrown cruelly in his face. 

 

“The cannon is down!” Allura said over the comm. “Now’s your chance, Shiro.” 

 

Lance was pulled out of his thoughts, his attention turning back to the battle they were in the midst of. 

 

“Roger that.” Shiro replied and Lance saw the black lion take off towards the ship. 

 

“Is he really going to go in there alone?” Lance asked, not really needing an answer. 

 

“Seems so.” Came Keith’s reply. 

 

Lance gave him a surprised glance. “It’s not like you to just let him go like that. Usually you’d go rushing in after him.”

 

Lance saw an unreadable expression cross his face before Keith said, “I trust him. If he says he can take Kivlak down, I believe him.” His voice was slightly sharp, an odd undertone to it. 

 

Lance recognized that voice. He’d used it so many times how could he not? Keith was lying. “You want to go in after him.” Lance said plainly. 

 

“What? No!” Keith replied, ramming Red into the last of the fighters a little harder than necessary. “Didn’t you just hear what I said?” 

 

“Oh, I heard.” Lance said, a little irritated that Keith wasn’t telling him the truth. “What I heard was you feeding me a bunch of bullshit. So spill. Why aren’t we going in after Shiro? Are you scared?” He added a taunting tone to his voice in hopes in would make Keith angry enough to answer him. Keith could never lie when he was angry. 

 

Lance must’ve struck a nerve because he could see Keith visibly tense up. “Yes, Lance! I’m terrified, okay?” 

 

That was not what Lance had expected to hear. “Why? You’ve never been scared of battle before.” Lance’s voice was quiet and sincere. 

 

Keith let out an irritated sigh, gripping Red’s controls tighters. “I can’t be trusted to keep you safe, not against Kivlak.”

 

Lance felt something deep within him stir, a feeling that caused a slight hitch in his breath. It was such a simple confession, but it hit Lance like a ton of bricks. “Keith-”

 

“Shut up.” Keith said, still not looking at Lance. “I know what you’re gonna say. You’ll say that I’m wrong. You’ll say that I can beat Kivlak and maybe you’re right, but…” Keith paused for a moment before continuing. “But if you’re wrong and I can’t beat him...you are going to feel so much pain. You might even die. I can’t risk it. I’m not…I can’t…”

 

Lance placed a hand on Keith’s shoulder. “All I was going to say was thank you.” 

 

Keith looked at him, his eyes wide. “W-what?”

 

“Thank you.” Lance repeated. “For keeping me safe.”

 

Keith opened his mouth to reply but whatever he was going to say was cut off by a sudden crackling over their comms. The sound was deafening, it taking everything Lance had to not rip his helmet off. 

 

“What the hell?!” He heard Keith shout. 

 

The static lasted for a few more moments before it ceased, a new sound echoing in their ears. 

 

“My, my, my. That didn’t take long.” 

 

Lance felt his blood run cold at the familiar voice. He glanced at Keith who was gripping Red’s controls so hard Lance was afraid they might break. 

 

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a leader fall so fast.” Kivlak’s said, his voice coming out disinterested and taunting. 

 

“Shiro!” Keith said, panic filling his voice. 

 

“We have to help him!” Lance said. “Hunk, Allura.” He said over the comm, not caring if Kivlak heard him. “Grab the black lion and get it back to the castle.” Lance made his voice firm, leaving no room for discussion. They didn’t have any time to waste. “Lance and I will find Shiro.”

 

“We’ll back you up after the black lion is safe.” Allura said, her own voice sounding tense. 

 

“No.” Lance replied. “Pidge is still missing and who knows when our next chance will be to find them. You need to bring that ship down. We can’t let it get away.” 

 

“Are you sure, Keith? You guys haven’t had an easy time bringing Kivlak down before.” Hunk said, his voice filled with worry. 

 

“We don’t have a choice.” Lance replied. “Now hurry.” 

 

He heard the clicks of their comms going dead. “C’mon, Keith. Let’s get on that ship.” 

 

The red lion didn’t move. Lance looked down at Keith who was still gripping Red’s controls too tightly. There was a look of indecision on his face, his eyes darting between Lance and Kivlak’s ship. 

 

“Keith…” Lance said, laying a hand on his shoulder again. “I know that you’re worried about what could happen when we meet Kivlak, but right now Shiro needs our help. We’re taking a big risk here, I know. But it’s a necessary one. We  _ can  _ do this. Trust me.”

 

Lance could see Keith visibly relax, taking a deep breath. “You’re right. Shiro needs us. Let’s go.”

 

\-----

 

Nothing about this situation seemed right. Shiro was the best fighter Keith knew. If Kivlak was able to overpower him so easily, what kind of chance did the two of them stand? Don’t get him wrong, he wasn’t about to abandon Shiro. He was going to find him, there was no question about that. He just couldn’t shake the feeling that he and Lance were walking into a hopeless situation. 

 

It was times like this that Keith really wanted to be in his own body again. Trying to defeat Kivlak was hard enough. But trying to defeat Kivlak while having to worry about keeping Lance’s body safe was impossible. Last time Lance had almost been killed. Keith didn’t expect this time to go any better. 

 

But he’d seen the look on Lance’s face, the complete devastation that he had been feeling at Hunk’s comment. He’d seen the vulnerability, the insecurity. No one deserved to feel that way, especially not Lance. Keith was well aware of the fact that the team would crumble without him and he was sure the others knew it too. It seemed that Lance was the only one who didn’t know. 

 

Keith maneuvered Red until she was latched onto the top of the ship, claws digging into the metal surface. He did his best to ignore the churning in his stomach as he stood up from the pilot’s seat, activating his helmet to cover his whole face. 

 

“Let’s go.” Lance said, leading the way out of Red and into open space. The two jet-boosted themselves to the surface of the ship. Keith could see the blue and yellow lion carrying the black lion in the distance, getting close to the castle. 

 

Keith activated his bayard, using it to cut a hole in the ship. Normally the two would’ve found a hangar or something but they didn’t have time. Shiro needed their help. Keith just hoped that they weren’t too late. 

 

Keith led the way once the were inside, sword held out in front of him. “We should check the bridge.” He said. “That’s probably where Kivlak is gonna be.” Keith said, not turning to look at Lance. 

 

“Great. Do you actually know where that’s at?” Lance asked, his voice sounding tense. 

 

“Nope.” Keith said. “But I’m guessing it’s this way.” Keith said, nodding in the direction they were running.

 

“Why?” Lance asked. 

 

“Just a feeling.” Keith said and it was. He might be in Lance’s body but his instinct were still his own. The two raced down the hallway and turned the corner. The new hallway they were in was littered with fallen sentires.

 

“I think we’re on the right track.” Lance said as the two passed the broken sentries. 

 

The two followed the trail of sentries until they came upon a large door. Keith stopped. He could feel his stomach start to churn, the thought of Kivlak waiting on the other side of the door for them causing an anxiety to rise within him. He swallowed hard, his grip tightening around his bayard. 

 

“You ready?” Lance asked, the small black pistol clenched in front of him. Keith could see the tension in Lance’s shoulder, his indigo eyes steely ad focused.

 

“Yeah.” Keith replied with a nod. He still wasn’t sure what was going to happen once the door opened, but standing around wasn’t going to help anything. 

 

Lance pressed the button and the large doors opened, revealing the bridge of Kivlak’s ship. It looked like every other Galra bridge that Keith had been on except for two things: Kivlak standing in the middle of the room, a stoic expression on his face, and Shiro lying unconscious a few feet away from him. Keith could feel something drop in his stomach as he noticed that laying a few feet away from Shiro was his right arm, the armor still attached to it with the black under armor torn. There was wires spilling out of the detached arm, the other ends coming out from Shiro’s shoulder. 

  
Keith could feel his anger rising, replacing the anxiety. He was getting really tired of Kivlak beating them at every turn. It was one thing to just beat Keith, but so far he had fucked with Lance, Pidge, and now Shiro. Keith was sick of it. He was sick of all of it. He was sick of having to constantly lie to his friends. He was sick of having to pretend to be someone he wasn’t. It was all just so exhausting. So Keith was going to put a stop to it _right now_. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!  
> For the record, I didn't originally intend for it to take two chapters of set up to get to this next battle with Kivlak. I kinda just got carried away with my writing. So thanks for sticking with me and I promise the next chapter will be extra juicy.   
> As always, any and all feedback you are willing to give is greatly appreciated. I really enjoy reading all of your comments. They definitely make my day better.   
> Stay safe and I'll see ya next time!
> 
> ~Redjay


	16. Curing the Addiction

Pidge stared in disbelief at the large screen. “Shiro…” They said quietly, a helpless kind of anger flowing through them. They didn’t understand. Shiro was easily the best fighter out of the whole group, his time in the Galra gladiator ring sharpening his skills far quicker than any of the paladin training ever had. It seemed that survival was a brutal but effective teacher. 

 

So it was no wonder that Pidge was horrified when they saw Shiro knocked unconscious, the one weapon he had ripped from his body. If Shiro could fall that easily, what hope did Keith or Lance have? Were they going to have to watch as Kivlak defeated every member of their team, helpless to be there for their friends when they needed Pidge most? 

 

“He’s not dead.” Lotor said from behind Pidge. 

 

Pidge balled their hands into fists, knuckles turning white. “I know.” They said through clenched teeth. 

 

“Then please enlighten me on what has got you so worked up.” Lotor said, his voice not betraying any real curiosity he might be feeling. 

 

Pidge could feel their face grow hot, an uncontrollable fire rising within. They let out an irritated breath, ignoring how Keith had started to charge Kivlak on the screen. “You want human emotions? I’ll show you human emotions...” Pidge said, their voice dangerously low. They spun around to face Lotor, their temper getting the better of them. “Those are my fucking friends down there, you dumbass! I should be down there with them! Not stuck on some ship just  _ watching  _ it happen!” 

 

Pidge was seething, not caring that technically they were still Lotor’s prisoner. They were shooting Lotor with the harshest glare they could muster up. 

 

In actuality, Pidge was only half angry at Lotor. The other half was directed onto themselves. Sure, it was Lotor who had captured them. It was Lotor who was the reason that Lance and Keith were in the wrong bodies. It was Lotor’s fault that Shiro was down an arm. But Pidge blamed themselves for not coming up with a way to help anyone, not even themselves, in this shitty situation. 

 

Lotor seemed unphased by Pidge’s outburst, a fact that only worked to irritate Pidge more. “I’ll never understand the camaraderie you paladins cling so desperately to.” 

 

“Of course you wouldn't!” Pidge spat at him. “You’ll never understand what it means to  _ care  _ about someone! You’re just a monster!” 

 

Even through their rage, there was no way Pidge would’ve missed the flash of raw emotion in Lotor’s eye. It was the first real response Pidge had ever gotten from him. It was only for a moment, but it was unmistakable. That was pain. Pidge had seen it enough in the looks of the oppressed during their time out in space. They were sure it had been a look they had had themselves many times while searching for their brother and father. 

 

Pidge had triggered something when they called Lotor a monster. Now, they just had to figure out how to use it to their advantage.

 

\-----

 

Keith ducked under Kivlak’s arm, bringing his own arm around to slash at him with his sword. He was moving on pure instinct, letting his gut guide his movements instead of his brain. He was only vaguely aware of Lance a few feet behind him, no doubt making sure he stayed within range of Keith. It would be bad if either one of them got knocked off their feet because the other one had gotten too far away. 

 

Keith heard a clang as his sword came in contact with Kivlak’s armored arm, effectively blocking his attack. Keith didn’t even register the block before he was moving again, taking a couple steps back before charging in. He could hear the sounds of the black bayard firing, Lance keeping Kivlak busy enough for Keith to stand a chance against him. 

 

Keith raised his sword again and brought it down, expecting another block from Kivlak, but his sword only cut through air, throwing him slightly off balance. 

 

“Dammit!” Keith said, through clenched teeth, regaining his balance and turning until he spotted Kivlak on the other side of the room. This was the third time he had teleported out of Keith’s reach. Keith knew he was just trying to tire him out, wear him down until he got sloppy and careless. “Stop running, you coward!” Keith yelled, not actually making a move towards Kivlak. He knew that was what Kivlak wanted. 

 

He saw Lance stand next to him out of the corner of his eye. “We need a different approach.” Lance said quietly. “All we’re doing right now is holding our ground. We need an advantage.”

 

“Do you really think you can beat me?” Kivlak said, his gruff voice holding an arrogant tone to it. “How can you beat someone you can’t even catch?” 

 

“He’s got a point.” Lance said, the small black gun still aimed at Kivlak. “We need a better plan.” 

 

“Got any ideas?” Keith asked. 

 

“Let me think for a sec…” Lance replied.

 

“Well think fast because he’s not just gonna wait around while we figure things out.” Keith said. 

 

As if on cue Keith watched as Kivlak disappeared into thin air. 

 

“Shit…” Keith’s eyes darted around the room, but Kivlak was nowhere in sight. He could hear Lance muttering to himself. 

 

“...Axionite...outlawed…I got it!” 

 

“You have a plan?” Keith asked, his body still tense as he waited for Kivlak to reappear. 

 

“Well...maybe. Hold on. Coran!” Lance replied, his voice slightly elated. 

 

“I’m here, Keith.” Keith heard Coran reply over the comm. 

 

“How is axionite mined?” Lance asked. “It’s important.”

 

“It’s very similar to quinessence, really.” Coran said. “The energy is absorbed from the source, in this case the large clouds of gas caused by the stars, and then turned into a liquid. Consumption of the liquid gives a person the ability to teleport.” 

 

“So it can’t be used in its raw form?” Lance asked. 

 

“No.” Coran said. “What’s going on? Would do you ask?”

 

“No time to explain.” Lance said, grabbing Keith by the arm and pulling him towards the door. “You’ll see soon enough.”

 

“Good luck.” Coran said before Keith heard the click of the comm turning off.

 

“Where are we going?” Keith said as Lance pulled him towards the door.

 

“The lower floors. It has to be there.” Lance replied in a less-than-helpful way.

 

“We can’t just leave Shiro!” Keith said, pulling against Lance.

 

Lance stopped and turned to look at Keith, understanding flashing in his indigo eyes. “Damn. And there’s no way we can bring him with us…Ugh! This is where splitting up would  _ really  _ come in handy.” 

 

A thought popped into Keith’s head. “Good thing not all of us are stuck together.”

 

“Uh...what?” Lance asked, confused.

 

“Hunk!” Keith called over the comm. “We’ve got Shiro but we lost Kivlak. We need you to do a pickup.”

 

“Understood. Honing in on your positions now.” Came Hunk’s reply. 

 

“Huh. Who knew you actually had a brain?” Lance said, sounding almost impressed. 

 

“You must be wearing off on me.” Keith said, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.

 

“You guys, might want to stand back.” Hunk chimed in.

 

Keith gave Lance a look before they sprinted over to Shiro, Lance grabbing Shiro’s detached arm and Keith grabbing Shiro’s organic one. Keith pulled Shiro towards the back of the bridge and out of the way of Hunk and his lion.

 

“Okay, Hunk.” Lance said. “We’re ready.”

 

“Coming in!” Hunk said and a moment later dust and debris filled the room as the yellow lion’s head smashed through the front of the ship. Keith did his best to shield the still unconscious Shiro from the blast, not wanting Shiro to get any more injured. 

 

He saw the yellow lion’s mouth open and Hunk sprinting down the ramp towards them. He saw Hunk’s eyes widen in shock as he spotted Lance holding Shiro’s robotic arm. “What the quiznak?” 

 

“No time for questions.” Keith said. “We need to get him out of here.” 

 

Hunk nodded. “I’ve got this. You guys go find Kivlak and kick his butt. We can’t let all this be for nothing.” 

 

“Roger that.” Keith said, nodding at Hunk in affirmation.

 

\-----

 

Lance led the way towards the lower decks of the ship, mostly guessing at the correct way to go. He’d been on enough Galra ships to know the basic layout, but this ship was slightly different, no doubt modified to convert and store Axionite. Lance was far from relaxed, expecting at any moment for Kivlak to appear and try to stab him or something. He was grateful that Keith had managed to not get hurt in the last little battle, but he wasn’t sure how long that would last. Lance could feel the anxiety of not knowing where Kivlak was starting to eat away at his sanity. It was like some fucked up version of cat and mouse. 

 

Lance had a plan, but he wasn’t exactly sure if his plan was going to work. It was a calculated, if not necessary, risk. Besides, it wasn’t like they had a whole lot of other options. He could see Keith starting to slow down during the last fight. There was no way he could have kept Kivlak at bay for very much longer no matter how angry he was. No, Lance was putting all his eggs in one basket with this plan, and he prayed that it would succeed. 

 

“So what’s this plan of yours?” He heard Keith ask from behind him. “Think it’ll work?”

 

“Probably.” Lance replied, hoping that Keith wouldn’t notice how his voice quivered with slight hesitation. “If I’m right, it’ll definitely give us an edge on Kivlak...wherever he might be.”

 

“And how’re we going to do that?”

 

“Cut off his supply.” Lance said as they descended another flight of stairs. They had to be getting close to the lowest deck by now. “Allura said Axionite is addictive.” Lance explained. “And you and I have seen Kivlak teleport a lot, meaning that he has probably taken a lot of the stuff.”

 

“Yeah, that makes sense.” Keith said. The two slowed as they neared a corner. Lance slowly peered around it, looking to see if there was any Galra in the next hall. The ship was surprisingly empty, a fact that Lance wasn’t super stoked about. It set his nerves even more on edge. When it looked like this hallway was just as empty as all the other ones, Lance gave a motion to Keith and the two rounded the corner and continued on. 

 

“So he needs an easy way to get Axionite.” Lance continued explaining. “Which is why he turned his ship into an Axionite mining ship. Easy access. He can get as much Axionite as he wants. But Coran said it needs to be converted into liquid form to consume, right?”

 

“Right...” Keith said slowly, probably catching onto the plan Lance assumed. 

 

“So if we find where he converts the Axionite into liquid and disable it somehow, we cut off his supply. No more Axionite, no more teleporting. And as a side bonus, he might get some sorta withdrawal, making him easier to defeat.”

 

Lance could hear machines coming from the floor below as they approached another staircase. This had to be what they were looking for. 

 

“But won’t it take awhile for the withdrawal or whatever to set in? He might still have some Axionite in his system.” Keith questioned. 

 

“I don’t know…” Lance said ponderously. “I don’t think it was mercy that led Kivlak to disappear on us like that. My guess it that he was running out and needed some more.”

 

“Okay, that’s even worse. He’s had more than enough time to get some.” Keith said.

 

“I’m not so sure about that either. He was gathering the Axionite when we started attacking him. It probably hasn’t been converted yet.”

 

“These are some big assumptions you’re making.” Keith pointed out as the two reached the bottom of the staircase. 

 

“You have a better idea?” Lance snapped at him. 

 

“No.” Keith said plainly. 

 

“Cool. So we’re doing my thing. Now get ready. I think that’s the room we’re looking for.” Lance said, pointing to the end of the hall where a large door stood, the sound of machines whirring coming from the other side. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!  
> I apologize for the mini-break. I was sick and then I had to deal with midterms. Real life is so gross sometimes.  
> As always, any and all feedback you are willing and able to give is greatly appreciated.   
> Stay safe and I'll see ya next time, 
> 
> ~Redjay


	17. Thorn in His Side

Lance nodded at Keith from his position beside the large door. Keith gave a slight nod back from the other side of the door before hitting the button to open it. With the door now open, Lance could hear how loud the machinery was and resisted the urge to cover his ears. Underneath the initial loudness of the machines, Lance could hear a sort of strain, like the machines were being overworked. That didn’t surprise him. Kivlak’s addiction was probably too great for him to care about keeping his machines working. 

 

Lance slowly peered around the corner, knowing that caution was the key to survival. They had underestimated Kivlak before, costing them pidge and now Shiro. Lance wasn’t about to let Kivlak hurt anyone else. It was time for them to be rid of Kivlak once and for all. 

 

The room was bigger than Lance had anticipated. It looked like it had once been a hangar but was now repurposed to mine and convert Axionite. Machines lined either side of the room. They were large, complicated looking contraptions, each one looking different from the one next to it. Lance knew that he could never understand the intricacies of these machines in his lifetime. Stuff like this was more Pidge and Hunk’s area of expertise. The good news is that he didn’t need Pidge or Hunk to know how to break stuff. He could do that all on his own. 

 

Lance felt his shoulders tense as he spotted Kivlak standing in front of one of the machines, tapping on the console connected to the machine. He hadn’t seemed to notice that the door had opened which Lance thanked the universe for. The machine he was standing in front of was connected by a large hose to a tank which he assumed was where the liquefied Axionite was stored. He could see a thick dark blue liquid seeping into the tank from the hose. At the moment, the tank was not even a quarter of the way full. They needed to act fast if they were going to succeed. 

 

Lance gripped the small black gun in his hands tighter, a plan forming in his mind. He glanced over to Keith who was looking as tense as Lance felt. Lance nodded his head towards the large tank, hoping that Keith would understand his message. Keith gave him a nod in return and Lance decided that was going to have to be good enough. 

 

Lance took a deep, drawn out breath, relaxing his shoulders and focusing his mind. He had put in a lot of hours on the training deck before this whole mess happened so he was confident in his abilities. He had realized many months ago the kind of consequences that could stem from him missing. But it had been awhile since he had to make shots this important. He couldn’t afford to miss.

 

Being in Keith’s body had been hard and it wasn’t just because he had to act like Keith. In fact, acting like Keith had turned out to be the easiest part. Crossing his arms and brooding was a walk in the park. What had tripped Lance up the most was seeing for the first time how Keith was viewed as a valuable member of the team, something Lance knew he could never get when he was himself. And everytime Lance got a glimpse of that, he was reminded it wasn’t real. It wasn’t for him. And that hurt. So, the sooner Lance got back to his own body, the better. Just another reason why he couldn’t miss these shots. 

 

Lance leaned around the frame of the large door, taking aim at the hose connecting the two machines. He had already decided on the shots he was going to take. One shot at the hose, and a round of shots at the tank. That should break it enough to buy them enough time to defeat Kivlak. Or at least, Lance hoped so. Lance took one more deep breath, tuning out the sound of the machines, and then fired. 

 

He didn’t stop to check if his shot had hit, instead moving onto the next target. In less than a second he had aimed a shot at the hose and then moved onto the tank, putting four holes in the glass, making sure one was low enough to drain the Axionite already in it. 

 

“No!” Lance heard Kivlak shout. Lance couldn’t help the smirk that appeared on his face. Taking Kivlak by surprise  _ and  _ destroying his stuff felt good, he had to admit. 

 

“And that’s how we do it on team Voltron!” Lance said, feeling a swell of pride. 

 

“This isn’t over yet.” Keith replied, his voice serious. Lance ignored the small wave of irritation that was ignited within him. Keith could’ve at least acknowledge that those were good shots.

 

But he was right. Kivlak was headed straight for them and now that he had absolutely no way of getting any more Axionite, he was extra pissed. Lance just hoped he was pissed enough to make mistakes. 

 

\-----

 

“You realize Kivlak’s done for, right?” Pidge said, leaning against one of the many consoles on Lotor’s bridge as they watched the fight. 

 

“I’m counting on it, actually.” Lotor replied cryptically. 

 

Pidge turned to face him, a curious expression on their face. “What do you mean?” 

 

Lotor shifted his gaze from the screen to Pidge. “He’s come to the end of his use. At this point he’s more of a liability than an asset. I had a feeling introducing him to Axionite would eventually make him useless, but it was a calculated risk. He’s served his purpose. Now it’s time for him to disappear.”

 

There was no remorse in Lotor’s voice, not even a hint of pity at his doomed subordinate. Pidge wasn’t necessarily surprised by that fact; they had always known him to be a manipulator, using people like pawns. 

 

“But if they capture his ship, won’t they know where to find you? I promise they won’t hesitate to come rescue me.” Pidge said, trying to understand Lotor’s plan. It was like everytime Lotor answered one of Pidge’s questions, he left them with a million new ones. Nothing Lotor was doing was making sense. Pidge simply couldn’t understand his endgame. 

 

“Again, I’m counting on it.” Lotor said, a sly smirk dancing on his lips. 

 

\-----

 

Keith was proud of himself with how quickly he had learned to fight in Lance’s body. Don’t get him wrong, he preferred his shorter stature to Lance’s long limbs, but his new height did come with its advantages. Like, for instance, he had a much farther reach which allowed him to keep a little more distance between himself and the raging Galra he was currently battling. 

 

Saying Kivlak was pissed was an understatement. Keith had no idea that cutting off his supply would make him this angry and he wondered in the back of his mind if this was a symptom of withdrawal. He really hoped it was. If not, he had just discovered a very new and very terrifying side to the Galra. 

 

Despite his anger, Kivlak was just as hard to fight as before and Keith found himself on the defensive more than he would like. Kivlak was like a whirlwind of punches and kicks, each one aimed at Keith with the intent to kill. It was all Keith could do to not be hit. He knew he wouldn’t feel it but he was relying on Lance’s cover fire. If he went down, Keith wouldn’t be far behind. 

 

It was true that Keith had decided back in Red that he would do everything in his power to protect Lance, in his body or not. And he hadn’t changed his mind about that. Being in Lance’s shoes had been a harrowing experience. Where he had initially saw goofiness and a happy-go-lucky guy, he now saw the vulnerability, the isolation, the doubt that Lance went through. Keith was pissed at himself for not seeing it sooner, but there was nothing he could do about that now. What he could do was make sure that Lance knew his value. And a good way to start proving that was to make sure he had a body to come back to that was fully in tact. 

 

Keith dodged another well-aimed kick from Kivlak, spinning and sending a jab at his side. He wasn’t surprised to see Kivlak block it, immediately following up by swinging his free arm towards Keith’s head. Keith managed to duck at the last minute, but that threw him off balance long enough for Kivlak to take advantage. 

 

Keith didn’t feel the blow, but he felt himself get knocked off his feet, flying backwards. As soon as he hit the ground he was on his feet again, knowing that Kivlak was already coming for him. Keith saw himself rise from the ground about ten feet away from him, clutching his side. If he had to guess, Lance had been forced back when Keith had been sent flying. 

 

“You okay?” Keith called as Kivlak started to charge them again. 

 

“Yeah.” Lance replied, his voice slightly strained with pain. “Feels like I broke a rib but I’m good.” 

 

Keith didn’t have time to process what Lance said before Kivlak was attacking again. Keith raised his bayard to block the blow, noticing how Lance fell back down onto one knee at his movement, his face twisting in pain. 

 

“Shit…” Keith said through clenched teeth, feeling himself being forced back a few steps. He needed to end this and he needed to end this soon. Lance was clearly hurt and he didn’t know how much longer he could hold out against Kivlak. 

 

\-----

 

Lance gripped his side, trying to rid himself of the phantom pain. He could feel the protest of his body every time Keith moved to fend off Kivlak. It was all he could do to raise the black handgun and occasionally fire in Kivlak’s direction. 

 

He knew that they weren’t going to last much longer. He needed a plan and he needed it now. Lance turned his attention to the rest of the room, doing his best to ignore the stinging in his side. There had to be something around here they could use. All he saw were machines that mined Axionite, machines that he had no idea how to work. 

 

Wait…

 

Wait, wait,  _ wait! _

 

“Lance, we need to finish this!” Keith yelled at him from where he was doing his best to hold off Kivlak. Lance noticed that he was losing ground fast, feeling his own body being pulled towards Keith everytime Keith was forced to take another step back. 

 

“The tank!” Lance yelled back, forcing himself to stand despite the pain.

 

Keith seemed to understand, ducking beneath Kivlak and running straight for Lance. He grabbed Lance’s hand as he passed, pulling him in the direction of the tank. It was everything Lance could do to remain standing, his side screaming in pain with every step Keith made. He could hear Kivlak’s pounding footsteps behind them and Lance didn’t dare look back, having a feeling he would lose his nerve if he saw the raging Galra right now.

 

The tank was surrounded by the dark blue liquid that had seeped onto the ground. Adding to that was a slow stream of Axionite that dripped from the now disconnected hose. 

 

“Now what?” Keith asked as they neared the tank, the blue liquid splashing up and coating their shins as they ran.

 

“Distract him.” Lance instructed, clenching his teeth from the pain. He didn’t wait for Keith to respond before staggering towards the console that Kivlak had been previously using. He felt another pain erupt in his side as Keith once again fought off the large Galra. Lance collapsed against the console, his knees giving out again with the pain. 

 

“Why am I always the one getting hurt…” Lance muttered as he scanned the console, making it so he could read the Galra characters. It only took him a minute or so to find what he was looking for. 

 

Lance pushed himself up off the console as much as he could, turning to face Keith and Kivlak. Keith wasn’t doing well. Lance could tell by how he wasn’t holding his sword at his usual height and the rapid rise and fall of his shoulders, indicating that he was out of breath. If this didn’t work, they were done for. 

 

“Hey, Kivlak!” Lance called, capturing the Galra’s attention. “It would really suck if I just decided to make all your machines overload and explode! No more Axionite for you, buddy!” Lance hovered his hand over the console, threatening to do just that. That stopped Kivlak in his tracks and Lance felt a wave of relief wash over him. 

 

The next few moments happened faster than Lance could take in. He saw Kivlak face him, a look of pure rage on his face. He felt himself flinch as Kivlak took a step towards him, his need for Axionite causing him to fixate on Lance and his hand that was still hovering just over the console. He saw the moment that Keith understood what Lance was doing, raising his sword as soon as Kivlak’s attention was off of him. The next thing Lance knew, Keith’s red sword was protruding out of Kivlak’s chest, Kivlak letting out a gasping cry that was only barely audible over the noise of the machines. He saw Keith pull his sword out and watched as the life drained from Kivlak’s eyes, falling to his knees and then collapsing on the ground entirely, the liquefied Axionite staining his purple features.

 

“And that’s why you don’t do drugs.” Lance said, giving Keith a triumphant smile and a thumbs up. “Now for the love of god would you  _ please stop moving! _ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!  
> This chapter was a nightmare to write, holy shit. Words just didn't want to work with me. But I think it turned out pretty okay so it was worth it.   
> As always, any and all feedback you are willing and able to give is greatly appreciated.   
> Stay safe and I'll see ya next time!
> 
> ~Redjay


	18. The Monsters Within Our Hearts

Lance had emerged from the healing pod first which didn’t surprise him. He hadn’t actually been injured like Keith or Shiro. It hadn’t really occurred to Lance what kind of shape the team was in until he saw himself and Shiro both in the healing pods. Turns out they were in bad shape. He couldn’t remember a time when three of them had been in the pods at the same time. Lance wasn’t really sure when things had started to go south, but shit had certainly hit the fan at lightning speed.

 

Shiro was still down an arm, his robotic one still detached from his body. Lance wasn’t sure how they were going to reattach it but he figured that was a bridge they would cross once they got to it. He also wasn’t sure what injuries Shiro had sustained aside from his arm being ripped from his body, but he supposed that he could just ask Coran about that later.

 

Lance didn’t have to guess at how bad Keith was. He could feel the now familiar warmth of the healing pod in his chest. But more than that, he could still feel a certain tenderness around the ribs that had broken. It looked like Keith was going to be in there for a while which meant that Lance was stuck here with him. Great.

 

Lance sighed, looking around the room. He still felt groggy, the effects of the healing pod not quite gone. He wanted nothing more than to curl up on his own bed in his own room and sleep for a solid twelve hours. Of course there were a few obvious problems with that. The first being that he was trapped in a twenty foot radius of Keith and the second being the barrage of questions he would receive if someone caught who they thought was Keith in his room.

 

Lance noticed a set of clothes folded neatly near the base of the pod he had just emerged from. Well at least that was a win. Even with the complicatedness that was Keith’s sense of style, he would much rather be dressed in that than the pod clothes.

 

Lance didn’t hesitate in changing, muttering, “Just buy pants with pockets…” to himself as he fastened Keith’s belt around his waist.

 

Feeling slightly refreshed, Lance turned his attention back to his two friends in the pods, playing over the events that had led them here in his head once again. Kivlak was dead and Lance would be lying if he said that didn’t fill him with an immense sense of relief. Lance had never enjoyed the killing aspect of his job. He knew that it was necessary part, but that didn’t mean he liked it. But in this instance, he had definitely felt a certain joy when he saw the red sword sticking out of Kivlak’s chest. Now it was up to Hunk, Allura, and Coran to extract data from Kivlak’s ship and hope that it points them in the direction of Pidge and, if they were lucky, Lotor.

 

Lance just had to be patient until they did that though, something he wasn’t necessarily good at. He gave a little shrug of his shoulders to no one in particular and went to sit with his back leaning against Keith’s pod. He rested his head against the metal of the pod and closed his eyes. The past few days had been exhausting in more ways than one. Lance could admit that he was at his emotional limit. He had never imagined how freeing it was to just be in your own body until he was locked out. What kinda bullshit was that? He didn’t ask for a soul-searching experience but _damn_ had he gotten one.

 

He wasn’t the only one soul-searching though. Even if Keith would never say it out loud, Lance could tell that he was having his own struggles. It had been evident in Keith’s outburst at Lance while they were in Red. Keith had been a loner all his life and Lance knew that. The only person Keith had ever really been able to rely on was himself and it was evident in the way he fought, in the way he flew, in the way he acted towards others. It wasn’t that Keith didn’t trust the rest of the team. Lance knew that on some level Keith had put a certain amount of trust into each member of the team. But when it came to situations where his impulses took over, Keith wouldn’t hesitate. He wouldn’t stop to think through his actions simply because he never had the time to. It was always ride or die with him.

 

At least, that’s the way he _used_ to be. Now, Lance wasn’t so sure. Keith had hesitated and hesitated big time, letting Shiro face Kivlak alone and all because he was afraid of hurting Lance. Lance had not been expecting that and admitting it was easy. What wasn’t so easy to admit was the flurry of emotions that had hit him. He didn’t have words that could properly describe the influx of raw, unfiltered _feelings_ that had seized up within him when he heard Keith’s voice, shaky and vulnerable. They had twisted up within in, forming sharp edges that had cut into his core.

 

Lance had never received the level of trust or loyalty that Keith had, he didn’t think he deserved to. But...if he had, he imagined he would feel exactly like he felt in that moment. And the worst part about it was that he wanted to feel it again, even if only for a moment. But at this point Lance knew better than to hope for the impossible.

 

He pulled his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around them and rested his forehead against his knees.

 

\-----

 

“So this is where you’ve been, Chiquito. You’ve had Mom worried sick.”

 

Lance glanced up at the figure standing over him, blinking away the tears that had been welling up in his eyes. “Sorry...I…” Lance tried to say as he looked up at the smiling face of his brother but found his voice caught in his throat.

 

He saw the expression on his brother’s face twist into concern. Lance quickly looked away from him and rubbed at his eyes, embarrassed. He heard his brother sit next to him with a small sigh, but he didn’t say anything else. Only the sound of the waves and a few sobs that escaped Lance’s lips interrupted the silence. It was a while before his brother spoke again.  

 

“What was it this time?” His voice was soft, his cadence blending in with the sounds of the ocean.

 

Lance sucked in a breath before saying, “They were making fun of my clothes again…”

 

“What were they saying?” His brother asked.

 

“They...t-they said that only p-poor people wore hand-me-downs. They said no w-wonder I’m so skinny because...b-because…” Lance let out another sob as a fresh round of tears rolled down his face.

 

“Because?” His brother’s voice was still soft, tender even.

 

“Because we c-can’t buy food. A-and I tried to t-tell them it’s not t-true but they wouldn’t listen.” Lance hugged his knees to his chest, trying to block the bad memories.

 

“And then what happened?” His brother asked.

 

“I...I started crying…” Lance admitted quietly, knowing that his brother wouldn’t judge him like the other kids did. “And they said only sissies cry…” Lance let out another sob before saying, “I-I’m not a s-sissy…”

 

“I know that.” His brother said, his voice a little louder but just as gentle. “Crying doesn’t mean your weak.”

 

“It doesn't?” Lance asked, turning to look at his brother who was in turn looking at him with a soft smile.

 

“Nope.” He said. “In fact, crying is a sign of strength. It means you aren’t afraid to face the monsters inside here.” He reached over and tapped Lance’s chest.

 

“There are monsters in my heart?” Lance asked, staring wide-eyed at where his brother had tapped him.

 

“There are monsters in everyone’s heart.” His brother explained. “The monsters make people feel sad or hurt or lost.”

 

“How do you beat them?” Lance asked.

 

“Well...that’s the thing, Chiquito. You can’t beat them. They’re always going to be there.”

 

“Oh…” Lance said, disappointed.

 

“But,” His brother continued. “That doesn’t mean you should let them win. Crying is just one of the ways that you fight the monsters.”

 

Lance looked back up at his brother, excitement in his eyes, “Really?!”

 

“Yep. So you should never feel bad for crying.” His brother gave him another smile.

 

“But...the other kids will still make fun of me…” Lance replied, hopelessness flooding his voice.

 

“Hmm, I’ll tell ya what.” His brother said, shrugging out of the hooded, green jacket that he always wore. “I’ll give you my secret weapon.”

 

“Secret weapon?”

 

“It’s a shield.” His brother said as he placed the oversized jacket on Lance’s small shoulders. “Whenever you need to deal with the monsters, all you have to do it pull the hood up.” His brother pulled the white hood so it covered Lance’s head. “Now, no one can see you cry. As long as you have the jacket on, you’ll be protected.”

 

“But...this is your shield.” Lance said. “What’ll protect you?”

 

“Oh, don’t worry about me, Chiquito.” His brother said with a laugh. “I’m well protected. But if I need some extra protection I’ll come to you. Deal?”

 

Lance pushed the white hood back and smiled up at his brother. “Deal!”

 

\-----

 

“Monsters, huh?” Lance muttered to himself. “Yeah, I’ve got a few of those.” Lance looked up, spotting the pile of clothes folded neatly on the floor just a few feet away from him. On top of the pile sat his jacket, looking faded from the constant years of wear but still the same as when his brother first gave it to him many years ago.

 

Lance shrugged Keith’s jacket off and placed it on the ground next to him before reaching over and grabbing his own. He pulled his arms through the sleeves, finding slight amusement in how Keith’s arms weren’t long enough, causing everything but the tips of his fingers to be hidden. Lance didn’t hesitate to pull the hood up, basking in the immediate safety he felt. The scent of home had long faded from the jacket, but if Lance closed his eyes and thought really hard he could recall the scent of the ocean, of his mom baking in the kitchen, of his brother…

 

Once again Lance rested his forehead against his knees and he felt the warm tears drip down his face and onto Keith’s pants. Crying didn’t make him weak, Lance knew that. Crying meant he was strong. It meant that he wasn’t afraid to face the monster’s within his heart. And right now, this monster was clawing at his insides, telling him over and over again that he would never be as good as Keith. He would never be seen as Keith’s equal. He could only sit in silence as he was handed all of the praise that was meant for Keith, knowing that he hadn’t earned it.

 

But even with all of that, Lance didn’t hate Keith. Not even a little. In fact, it was quite the opposite. Keith meant _something_ to Lance, now more than ever. Lance only wished he knew what that something was. Lance had seen Keith at his most vulnerable and there was no taking that back. He felt like he had crossed some threshold with Keith and the door slammed shut behind them. And although Lance didn’t know that they were walking towards, he knew that they would have to walk towards it together.

 

Crying was only one way to fight a monster. What Lance didn’t know was that he would soon learn of another.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!  
> I'm back, baby! I finished all the studying and all the exam taking and all the paper writing and now I'm back! Summer break means more time for writing so get ready for a shit ton of new chapters coming your way.  
> As always, any and all feedback you are willing and able to give is greatly appreciated.  
> Stay safe and I'll see ya next time!
> 
> ~Redjay


	19. Untold Memories

“They still not out?” Hunk asked as he entered the room.

 

“Not yet.” Lance replied, straightening his back which was sore from leaning against Keith’s pod. It had only been about twelve hours since he had emerged from his own pod, but it had been the longest twelve hours of his life. Losing the freedom to go places made the time move by slower, much to Lance’s dismay. He had yet to take his own jacket off, finding that it gave him the comfort that he desperately needed. And although Allura, Coran, and Hunk had come to check up on him multiple times, not one of them had made any mention of it, a fact Lance found odd. 

 

“Does it say how much longer they’re gonna be?” Hunk asked, walking across the room and sitting down next to Lance.

 

“Nope. It’s anyone’s guess at this point. Have you found anything from Kivlak’s ship yet?” Lance asked.

 

“Not quite, but we’re close. Thankfully we were able to use some of Pidge’s data mining programs so that’s speeding up the process, but it’s still a lot of stuff to sift through.” Hunk paused for a moment before saying, “I hope Pidge is okay.” 

 

It was a simple statement but the weight behind it was suffocating. Lance felt guilt wash over him. He knew that he wasn’t entirely to blame for Pidge being kidnapped, but Lotor had started this whole thing because of himself and Keith so how could he not feel partially responsible?

 

“We’ll get them back.” Was all Lance offered up to Hunk, but it seemed to be enough because Hunk gave a determined nod. There was another brief moment of silence between the two before Hunk spoke up again. 

 

“This is kinda like old times, isn’t it?” Hunk said with a small laugh. “If it weren’t for Shiro being in a pod and Pidge being MIA, I would be getting some serious  déjà vu.” 

 

Lance gave Hunk a confused look. “What do you mean?” 

 

“This is just like the last time Lance was in a pod.” Hunk said, gesturing to Keith’s pod. 

 

“It is?” Lance asked, still confused. 

 

“Do you not see it?” Hunk replied with a raised eyebrow in Lance’s direction. “When Lance was injured from the explosion you did the exact same thing you’re doing right now. You’ve even got his jacket on again and everything.” 

 

“I...what?!” Lance felt his eyes go wide. He almost couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “He-I did what?” 

 

Hunk eyed him suspiciously. “Did Kivlak hit you too hard on the head or something? Make you lose some memories?”

 

“Sure, let’s go with that explanation...” Lance replied, looking away from Hunk and coughing awkwardly, hoping that Hunk wouldn’t notice how out of character he was acting. Keith would never have gotten that excited. 

 

“Hmm…” Hunk said, seeming to be debating something in his head. “Would you like me to remind you then?”

 

“Y-yeah…” Lance answered lamely, still not looking at Hunk. 

 

Hunk gave a sigh and then said, “Well, it’s just like I said. Lance was hurt and since it was the first time any one of us got hurt badly, we were all really worried about him. Everyone agreed that he should be monitored at all times. We were gonna do it in shifts, ya know? Share the load and all that, but you volunteered to stay with him the entire time. Claimed that everyone else was needed to help get the castle back in working order.” Hunk shot a small smile in Lance’s direction. “But I don’t think that was the real reason.”

 

Lance didn’t say anything, not really sure how to respond. His brain was racing a mile a minute. Why would Keith volunteer to be trapped in the infirmary with him while he was comatose? Lance was only here because he physically couldn’t leave, but Keith had chosen to stay. Why?

 

“When I came to check up on you, you were wearing his jacket just like you are now.” Hunk continued. “When I asked you why, you said you didn’t know why. You said there was something about his jacket that just made you feel protected, like you were safe.”

 

Lance felt everything inside him freeze. He heard the words “Like a shield…” come out of his mouth but he had no memory of speaking. 

 

If Hunk heard him he made no indication of it, instead saying, “Right before Lance woke up you asked us to not tell Lance anything about it. You didn’t even want us to mention that you stayed by his side the whole time. Pidge took some convincing but eventually everyone agreed. You never did tells us why, though.” 

 

“I don’t believe it.” Lance said quietly. “That doesn’t sound like me at all…” 

 

Hunk laughed at that. “You don’t give yourself enough credit.” Hunk stood up. “You may pretend to be a loner, but you care. You’ve always cared, probably more that anyone else on the team if I’m being honest.” Hunk gave him one more friendly smile before walking out of the room calling, “I’ve gotta get back to help Coran. I’ll let you know if we find anything.”

 

Lance was left alone, more confused about Keith than he had ever been before. And he knew that he could sit and stew in his own thoughts, getting tangled up in emotions and ‘what if’s, or he could simply wait to ask Keith himself what his reasons were. That didn’t guarantee that Keith would give him an answer, but it was better than guessing and getting himself worked up over nothing. 

 

It seemed that once again Lance was back to waiting. 

 

\-----

 

Waking up from the healing pods was one of Keith’s least favorite things in the universe right behind dealing with Lotor and being stuck in someone else’s body. Don’t get him wrong, he was happy to not be injured anymore; he just hated the feeling of being so out of it. It left him in a state of vulnerability that he was not accustomed to.

 

“Good morning, sunshine.” He heard his own voice say from somewhere off to the side. Keith blinked a few time, trying to make the blurriness of his vision go away. His legs felt shaky and weak and if he wasn’t leaning against the frame of the pod he would’ve probably fell over. 

 

“How long?” Keith asked, knowing that Lance would understand his question. 

 

“It’s been about a day since I got out.” Came the reply. Keith blinked a few more times before shifting his gaze over to where his voice was coming from. It took a moment but eventually he could see himself clearly. 

 

“Sorry…” Keith replied, fully aware that Lance had been stuck here waiting for him to wake up.

 

There was a slight pause before Lance said, “Don’t be. It wasn’t that bad.” 

 

Keith wasn’t sure if he had correctly heard the weird undertone to his voice when Lance spoke or if the aftereffects of the healing pod was making him delirious. Deciding that it was probably the latter, Keith asked a different question. 

 

“Why are you wearing your jacket?” 

 

It was  a little bit of a jarring sight to see himself in Lance’s jacket. For one it was too big for him, something Keith had already known, but it made him look smaller and thinner than he actually was. It also brought back emotions that Keith would’ve rather left buried. It seemed like a lifetime ago that he had waited next to Lance’s pod, trying to dissect the tingling sensation that wouldn’t leave his hand. He had only held Lance’s hand for ten seconds at the most but the feeling left behind had lasted for days. 

 

Keith had been very conflicted during that time. It was the first time that he had ever experienced anything quite so...distracting. It had been all he could think about, that ten second touch. And the more Keith had thought about it, the more confused he had become. Why did such a small thing mess him up so much? Keith never truly found the answer, though he came close. 

 

It was more on a whim than anything else. Lance’s jacket had just been sitting next to the pod, untouched, and Keith was a little curious as to why Lance always wore it. It looked old, faded. There were strings coming off the sleeves were the hem had come loose and it was easy to see the areas where someone, probably Lance’s mother if Keith had to guess, had repaired it. No one kept a jacket that worn out unless there was something special about it, that much Keith knew. 

 

So he had put it on and Keith immediately understood. It was a heavy jacket, the weight of it gave an unexpected sense of security. Keith remembered how the smell of Lance lingered on the jacket, bringing with it a sense of comfort. It had a way of settling the confusion in Keith, straightening out his emotions in a way that he wouldn’t have been able to do alone. And while it couldn’t answer the question as to why Keith had been conflicted in the first place, it did allow him time until he was ready to face those emotions again. Although he could admit that it wasn’t the same when he wore the jacket as Lance. Then it just felt like a regular jacket. Keith didn’t have an answer as to why that was, but in the end it didn’t bother him that much. 

 

What did bother him and still bothered him was Lance’s reaction when he asked Keith to take good care of his jacket. It was uncharacteristic of him to get that intense, especially about an article of clothing. Something didn’t quite add up and Keith was itching to find out the truth about that jacket. 

 

“Oh. Uh, I just missed it.” Lance answered, shrugging. “But I suppose I should give it back to you for now.” 

 

“Yeah, I guess.” Keith replied. 

 

“Unless you want me to keep it on for old time’s sake…” Lance shot him a sly smirk. 

 

Keith raised an eyebrow at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?” 

 

“I’m just saying that maybe seeing yourself in my jacket might for some reason bring back some feelings of nostalgia, that’s all.” Lance said, an almost mocking tone to his voice.

 

Keith felt his face grow hot from embarrassment and his heart start to pick up speed. “Oh no.” He said, voice cracking ever so slightly. “You know.”

 

“Oh, I know.” Lance replied, the sly smirk still plastered on his face. 

 

“I told them not to tell you!” Keith said, completely mortified. 

 

“To be fair, Hunk thought he was talking to you. Although on a related note he now thinks you have a slight case of amnesia, but I think that’s a problem for another day.”

 

Keith let out a long breath and pressed the palms of his hands to his eyes, trying his best to calm the raging storm of anxiety and embarrassment in him. “I suppose you wanna know why.” Keith managed to say. Better to just get it over with. 

 

“Hunk already told me why you wore my jacket.” Lance replied lightly. “And honestly, I get it.”

 

“You do?” Keith asked, lowering his hands so he could see Lance again.

 

“Probably more than you realize.” Lance said seriously. “But what I don’t understand is why you decided to stay at all. I mean, by all accounts we really didn’t like each other. I just can’t figure it out.”

 

Keith decided to go with the lie he had used that day way back when. “Everyone else was needed to help fix the castle. It was just more efficient that way.” Keith thought the lie was pretty  convincing. It had tricked everyone else. 

 

“Bullshit.” Lance said without a moment’s hesitation. “That’s my lying voice. I know my lying voice, Keith. Don’t try to pull a fast one on me.” 

 

Keith really should have known better. Of course Lance would be able to see right through him. Keith let out a heavy sigh and decided that this conversation would be better had sitting down. His legs feeling more stable now, he walked over to the top step in the infirmary and sat down, trying his best to get his thoughts in order. He only barely noticed Lance taking a seat down next to him.

 

“I was pretty shaken up after that fight.” Keith started, choosing his words carefully. “It was the first time any one of us had gotten seriously hurt. I think it was the first time it really hit me that we could die out here. Or worse, I could watch one of you die. That was a lot to take in. And, on top of all that, I was confused.”

 

“About what?” Lance asked, his voice quiet. 

 

Keith paused for a moment before saying, “To be honest, you. I mean, I thought you  _ hated  _ me. And I know you don’t remember any-”

 

“I remember.” Lance cut in, looking at the ground in front of them instead of at Keith. “I remember all of it.” 

 

“Wait, what? You do?” Keith asked, shocked.

 

“Yeah…”

 

“Then why didn’t you say anything, you ass!” 

 

Lance shrugged. “I didn’t know  _ what  _ to say. I was probably more confused about that than you were.” 

 

“That’s not an excuse.” Keith said, slightly irritated. 

 

“You’re right. But it’s the truth.” Lance replied, looking at Keith again. There was something in his expression that Keith could only attribute to guilt and so he decided to drop it for the moment. That discussion could be tabled for a later time. 

 

“Anyway, there were just all these thing going around in my head that I couldn’t figure out and they all seemed to revolve around you. So, I thought that if I stayed with you…” Keith trailed off, his words getting lost in his throat. 

 

“You would figure it out.” Lance finished for him. 

 

“Yeah…” 

 

“Did you?”

 

Keith shook his head. “No. I  _ still _ haven’t figured it out, but I’m closer I think.”

 

“Well, let me know when you do. I could certainly use the help on my end.” Lance said, giving him a sheepish smile. 

 

Keith let out a small chuckle. “Sure.” He paused for a moment before asking, “What did you mean when you said that you understood? About the jacket, I mean.”

 

“Oh. That...it’s uh...It’s kinda a long story.” Lance said, his demeanor changing instantly after Keith asked the question. He seemed more closed off than before. 

 

Keith gestured back towards Shiro’s pod which still had a couple of hours left on the timer. “I’ve got time.”

 

“True…” Lance said, looking like he was contemplating whether or not he wanted to get into it. 

 

“Lance, what is so special about that jacket?” Keith asked bluntly, doing his best to make his voice gentle. 

 

Lance let out a defeated sigh and said, “I’m the youngest in my family. So I looked up to my older siblings a lot, mainly my brother.” There was a raw pain in Lance’s voice as he spoke. A pain that Keith recognized. It was the same pain that he had felt when he had lost Shiro. “He taught me so many things and he was so patient with me which is saying a lot. I was quite the troublemaker when I was little.” Lance let out a small laugh. 

 

“Still are.” Keith said, nudging him lightly.

 

“Hey, that’s debatable.” Lance replied, nudging Keith back. “Anyway, for everything that he was, one thing my brother wasn’t was healthy. He was sick a lot, even before I was born he was always in and out of hospitals. The few times he wasn’t sick, we would go on trips. He said he wanted to see the world and he didn’t know when his next chance would be. Being sick like that, well, it made him feel trapped. The doctors were always telling him he couldn’t go outside or he couldn’t go to school and he hated it. He loved being outside. Said it made him feel free.” A fond smile found its way onto Lance’s face. “And when my mom realized she couldn’t keep him inside, she bought him this jacket.” Lance said, pulling at the sleeve of the green jacket. “She told him that it would at least keep him safe from the elements. And he wore it everywhere. Even when it was a hundred degrees out he would be wearing this jacket. He called it his shield.” 

 

Lance paused, his eyes glued to the ground. Keith waited, letting him collect his thoughts. 

 

“One day, my brother found me crying on the beach. I got bullied a lot as a kid. They would make fun of me for wearing second hand clothes and being so skinny. They called my family poor, but that wasn’t the case. His meds were expensive and so if I had to wear old clothes instead of new ones so he could feel better, well that was fine with me. It didn’t make their name calling hurt any less though.” Lance paused again. His voice becoming more strained with every sentence. “Anyway, my brother gave me his jacket that day. He told me it would protect me, shield me when I needed to be alone. What I didn’t know that day was that he had been diagnosed...with leukemia.” 

 

Keith could see Lance trying to blink away the tears. 

 

“Nothing the doctors tried worked and...less than a year later...he was gone.” Lance’s voice was no more than a whisper. “And all I was left with was a name on a gravestone and a jacket.” Lance reached up and pulled the white hood over his head, his body shaking as he let out quite sobs. 

 

Keith didn’t think, didn’t hesitate. He simply reached over and pulled Lance into his arms. Lance buried his face into Keith’s shoulders, the white hood hiding everything from Keith. But Keith didn’t need to see Lance to know what he was going through. And it was in that moment that Keith suddenly figured out what had been confusing him for so long. Looking back, it was insane that he hadn’t seen it before. 

 

Lance wasn’t just a teammate. He wasn’t just the person who Keith had switched bodies with. He wasn’t even just a friend. No, Lance was so much more than that. In the simplest of terms and the plainest of languages, Lance was his everything. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!  
> Long chapter this time 'round but I just really didn't want to break it up into two. I hope I didn't wreck anyone's soul too badly but I'm all about that character development so...here we are.   
> As always, any and all feedback you are able to send my way is greatly appreciated and super loved by me.   
> Stay safe and I'll see ya next time!
> 
> ~Redjay


	20. Mechanical Waves

“Lance…” Pidge said, their voice barely a whisper. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

 

“You’re in pain.” Lotor said. It wasn’t a question. “Why? It wasn’t your brother who died.” 

 

Pidge tore their eyes from the screen where Keith was still comforting a crying Lance. “But I know what it’s like to think you’ll never get to see someone you care about again. It’s a different situation, but the feelings are the same.” 

 

“I don’t understand.” Lotor said, his voice not malicious but curious, like he was truly trying to understand the connection. “How could you possibly understand what he is experiencing if it’s not the same?”

 

Pidge sighed and turned to look back at the screen where the two paladins hadn’t changed. “I guess I really can’t. But I can come close and that’s all us humans can really do. Empathize where we can but where we can’t? Just...get close. The sentiment is still there.”      

Lotor didn’t respond and Pidge wondered if it was because he was pondering Pidge’s words or thinking of a way to use his newfound knowledge about Lance to his advantage. Pidge seriously hoped it was the former.

 

\-----

 

“It’s about that time…” Lance said from where he was laying on his bed. He was sprawled out, arms and legs spread out in a star formation. The two had come here after their little heart to heart in the infirmary. Keith had claimed that he needed to take a shower after his time spent in the healing pod and Lance was more than okay with spending some time by himself while he recovered from the emotions that he had not been prepared to deal with. 

 

Lance has always planned to keep the existence of his brother and the story behind the jacket to himself. It wasn’t like it was a secret, his family knew all about it after all, but the memories of his brother had just always felt like something he alone should treasure. But Keith had asked in such a direct way that Lance couldn’t help but tell him the whole story. And as much as Lance didn’t want to admit it, it felt good to confide in someone. It was like the a weight had been lifted from his heart, a weight that he hadn’t known existed. 

 

If someone told him a month ago that Keith was going to be the one he confided in, he would’ve thought they were out of their mind. Sure, Keith and him had gotten closer lately. With Shiro being missing for so long they were forced to either put aside their difference or watch as the team crashed and burned. But that didn’t mean they were on the touchy-feely level of friendship yet. But as Lance thought about it now, confiding in Keith had been easy, almost natural. Some hurdle had definitely been crossed between the two of them. 

 

And the weirdest part for Lance was that he didn’t feel embarrassed or vulnerable or any other emotion of the sort. The moment that Keith had taken Lance in his arms he had felt safe. There was no judgement from Keith, no pressure to act a certain way. Lance had never experienced something like that before and if he was being honest with himself, he wanted to experience it again. 

 

That was easier said than done, however. Lance would look insane if he just walked up to Keith and casually asked to be held. And Lance wasn’t even sure it was Keith or the fact that he was technically being held by himself that made him feel so safe. Either way, that would be an awkward situation which he was going to avoid at all costs. 

 

“Shiro’s almost out?” Keith asked as he emerged from the bathroom, hair still a little damp. 

 

“Yeah.” Lance replied. “We should be there when he wakes up. He’ll probably be pretty confused.”

 

“Can’t really blame him.” Keith said. “He did lose an arm after all.” 

 

Lance stood up from his bed. “Ya know, most people don’t lose any arms. Shiro’s lost the same one twice. That’s some pretty bad luck if you ask me.”

 

“Yeah, but most people don’t fight in intergalactic wars so I mean...it’s all relative.” Keith replied as he led the way out of the room. 

 

Lance caught up to him so he was walking next to him. “But  _ we’re  _ fighting in an intergalactic war. Does that mean I’m going to lose an arm?”

 

Keith shrugged. “Dunno. Probably. Cherish your limbs while you have them.” His voice was so nonchalant that Lance wasn’t sure if he was kidding or not. With Keith it was sometimes hard to tell. It wasn’t until Lance caught Keith giving him a sidelong glance with a sly smile that he rolled his eyes and hit him on the arm playfully. 

 

“Not funny.” Lance said, ignoring the weird feeling in his stomach that could only be attributed to the small laugh Keith let out at Lance’s reaction. 

 

The two fell silent as they continued on their way back to the infirmary. Lance couldn’t help but wonder if things would change once they got back to their own bodies. Lance had come accustomed to Keith always being around mostly because he had no other choice. Keith was going to be there whether he liked it or not. But he had found that it wasn’t something he disliked. In fact, it was quite the opposite. He had found that he and Keith were able to coexist quite well together and at this point it seemed less of a chore that they were basically stuck together and more of a natural state. Lance often found himself gravitating to Keith’s side instead of being forced there. That be said, the implications of that revelation was something he wasn’t quite ready to think about. He would save that for when he was back in his own body. 

 

The two arrived in the infirmary, the other members of the team already there. From the looks of it they had just missed Shiro waking up. He was seated on the steps of the room, Allura sitting next to him. Coran was at the monitor adjacent to the pod Shiro had been in, reading the data from the pod’s scans. Hunk was standing in front of the two seated on the steps, hands on his hips in a casual way. They were discussing something quietly. 

 

Shiro himself looked worse for wear. There were bags under his eyes, his face sunken in slightly. His shoulders drooped and it looked like he was about to fall back asleep at any moment. Regardless, his gaze held an intense look as he conversed with the other two. 

 

“Shiro…” Lance heard Keith say from his side. “You’re awake.”

 

Shiro glanced over the two paladins, shooting them with an appreciative smile. “Thanks to you two. I hear you were quite the heroes.” His voice was tired but held gratitude. 

 

“What happened?” Keith asked. 

 

Shiro shook his head. “Kivlak caught me off guard. I knew that he could teleport but I didn’t expect it to be that fast. Before I knew it, my arm was gone.”

 

“Are you going to be okay?” Lance asked and it was Coran who answered. 

 

“It seems all of the internal injuries have been healed up. No permanent damage.”

 

“And his arm?” Keith asked. 

 

“That’s a different issue, it seems.” Allura said. “The arm was Galra made and while their technology isn’t necessarily beyond our expertise…” She trailed off, her gaze shifting to Shiro. 

 

“Their methods of attaching it weren’t kind.” Shiro finished for her. “I’m glad I don’t remember all of it.” 

 

“So what’s our other options?” Keith asked. 

 

“We were just discussing that.” Hunk chimed in. “We’ve got an idea but it might be a long shot.”

 

“Olkarion.” Allura said. “The Olkari might be able to fashion Shiro a new arm. I fear it may take awhile though...meaning that Shiro would have to leave.” 

 

“Pidge is still missing.” Shiro said. “I’m not going to leave when they could be in danger.” 

 

The room was silent and filled with indecision. Lance could understand both sides. Pidge was their friend and teammate and the thought of abandoning them was gut wrenching. If Lance was in Shiro’s position he knew that he would feel the same way. But Lance also knew that if they were going to have any chance of finding Pidge and taking Lotor down, they were going to need Shiro at one hundred percent. If that means sending Shiro away, then so be it. 

 

Lance  _ hated _ this. He hated it so much. He  _ knew  _ the only way to convince Shiro to go was if he pulled the Keith card. He didn’t want to see that look of trust again, knowing that it wasn’t for him. But right now this wasn’t about him. It was about Shiro and Pidge and so Lance would swallow those ugly feelings down. He could do that for his friends. 

 

“Shiro.” Lance said, making his voice firm and locking eyes with Shiro. “Pidge is important, but you’ll be no use to them like this. We need you at your best. Go to Olkarion.” 

 

There was another silence in the room, Shiro not breaking eye contact with Lance. Lance didn’t waver despite the ache that erupted within him. After a long moment, Shiro’s shoulders finally sagged. 

 

“You’re right, Keith. It’s the best way to help Pidge.”

 

“Hunk, ready a pod for the trip.” Allura said and Hunk nodded before turning to leave the room. “I’ll help Shiro back to his room so he can rest a little before the journey.” She grabbed Shiro’s remaining arm and helped him to his feet. 

 

The two left the room without another word, leaving Lance, Keith, and Coran alone. Lance gave a sidelong glance to Keith, expecting to see him pissed off. He always got mad at himself when someone on the team got hurt. He had a bad habit of blaming it on himself. Lance almost flinched back in shock when he saw ocean blue eyes fixed on him, something stirring deep within that he couldn’t place. Before Lance had a chance to ask what was wrong Coran spoke up first. 

 

“You weren’t really sick, were you?” He had turned from the monitor to face the two boys, a knowing look on his face. 

 

Lance felt a jolt in his brain as Coran’s words sunk in. “W-what do you mean?” He stuttered, unsuccessfully trying to cover up his surprise. 

 

“Don’t play dumb.” Coran said.

 

Lance glanced at Keith whose face had gone pale. It looked like he was going to be of no help in this situation. Lance let out a long sigh before saying. “I thought it was pretty convincing. How’d you figure it out?” 

 

“I can admit, you boys put on a pretty convincing act.” Coran said, his voice light. “It wasn’t until you’re latest stay in the healing pod that I noticed something off.” 

 

“Something...off?” Keith asked. 

 

Coran nodded before turning to the monitor again and tapping a few times. Two large screens appeared side-by-side in the middle of the room. “Here’s the brain scan we looked at before.” A familiar sight appeared on the screen. There were lines that rose and fell in seemingly random intervals except for the last one on the screen that maintained a steady rhythm. 

 

“The mechanical wave…” Lance muttered, staring at the anomaly.

 

“Precisely.” Coran said with a nod. “And here are your brain scans from this go around.” Two new sets of brain waves appeared on the screens and just like before there was one line that was unchanging. 

 

Lance felt a little sick looking at them. Now they knew for sure that both of them had some type of mechanical  _ thing  _ in their brains. “That’s not good…” He muttered. 

 

“Did Shiro have something like this too?” Keith asked, his voice riddled with concern. 

 

“That’s a negative.” Coran said with a shake of his head. 

 

“So it’s just us?” Lance asked, more to himself than anyone else. If that was the case…

 

“I’ve got some good news and some bad news.” Coran said, his voice still light. 

 

“What’s the bad news?” Lance asked, positive that he didn’t want to hear what Coran had to say.

 

“The bad news it that you’re going to be stuck in each other’s bodies for quite some time.” Coran replied. 

 

Sirens went off in Lance’s head. “You know?!” Was all he was able to ask. 

 

“Well, not this whole time.” Coran explained. “But that’s part of the good news. Good news is that I know what’s inside your head. Those devices are what’s causing your little mess.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!   
> Just a little update for you guys story-length wise. We are towards the end of the middle portion of this story. I still have no idea how many more chapters we got but as soon as I know, I will let you know.   
> As always, any and all feedback you are willing and able to give is greatly appreciated.   
> Stay safe and I'll see ya next time!
> 
> ~Redjay


	21. One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Get ready to be hit with a TON of exposition. My apologies in advance.

“Wait, are you sure?” Keith asked, trying not to get his hopes up. It seemed almost too easy and if there had been one thing Keith had learned since he left Earth it was that nothing in space was ever easy. 

 

“Positive.” Coran said with a nod. “It’s been awhile since I’ve seen this technology, though. It’s a mystery how they ended up in your heads.” 

 

“Well, what are they?” Lance asked impatiently.

 

“They’re called Anexum. They come from a race called the Nexila. Unfortunately, much like Alteans, the Nexila’s planet was destroyed by the Galra when the war first started. I don’t think there are any surviving.” Coran paused, giving the two time to process. 

 

“So, what’s this Anexum thing do exactly?” Keith asked after a moment. 

 

“The Nelixa were a peaceful people.” Coran said. “They wholly believed that conflict, whatever it may be, could be solved without bloodshed. They were gifted diplomats both intergalactically and domestically.”

 

“And then the Galra attacked…” Keith said softly, trailing off. It was an all too familiar story.

 

“They didn’t stand a chance.” Coran finished, shaking his head a little. “But, before that, they flourished as a people, making many allies. Of course, no one race is perfect so occasionally fights would break out amongst the Nexila. So, the leaders ordered the construction of the Anexum. They’re are small chips that attach to the brian and are powered by a bug found on the planet called the Ima.”

 

“Wait!” Lance cut in, sounding panicked. “Are you tell me there’s a  _ bug  _ in my  _ brain _ ?!” 

 

“Completely dormant and trapped within the chip itself.” Coran replied, seemingly unaffected by Lance’s outburst. “The Ima has a very bizarre ability to switch bodies with others in its hive.”

 

“What kinda bug would need to do that?” Keith asked, cocking his head to the side in wonderment. 

 

“Although all Ima look the same, there are actually a few different types. Of course there’s the head Ima and the collector Ima. Also the defender Ima. You get the picture. If, for example, the collector Ima were out getting food to bring back to the hive and they run into Ima from another hive, they can switch bodies with the defender Ima and hopefully chase the other Ima off.” 

 

“I thought this was a peaceful planet.” Lance commented. 

 

“I said the people were peaceful, not the bugs.” Coran replied. “Anyway, the Nexila were able to harness the power of the Ima and made the Anexum. Of course, they made some modifications to go along with the Ima’s abilities as well. Much like Alteans, the Nexila had a gift for alchemy, although their abilities were different. Whenever a conflict broke out on their planet, whether it be between two people or groups of people, the leaders would order the two sides to be implanted with an Anexum.”

 

“Sounds harsh.” Keith said. 

 

“Most of the Nexila approved of this method of conflict resolution. It was better than the alternative. Anyway, the people chosen to get the chip weren’t told until the Anexum was already implanted. They had a whole secret and highly trained team that could implant one in the dead of night without being detected. For being bearers of peace, they were sneaky little buggers. Once the Anexum was implanted, it kept them from divulging that they had switched bodies.”

 

“Yep, that sounds familiar.” Lance said with a nod. “It even affected Pidge.” 

 

Coran nodded. “Those chips send out scanning waves to people nearby that read the neural pathways in the brain and if it looks like someone is going to spill the beans, it alters those neurons to send a different message.”

 

“But it doesn’t work when people who know the truth are around.” Lance stated matter of factly. 

 

“Ah, let me amend my statement. The scans that go out aren’t looking for your names, per se. In order to call something the incorrect name, in this case calling someone who looks like Keith, Lance or vice versa, the brain has to work harder. That causes more neurons to be firing than normal and also takes longer for the message to be received. The scans target those areas in the brain. It looks for that pattern and then changes it to the false message.”

 

“But that still doesn’t-” Keith started but stopped short when Coran raised his hand. 

 

“That’s not the only pattern the scans look for. That’s only half the equation. The chips also scan for what would be considered a normal brain pattern. Even if a person isn’t directly saying a person’s name out loud, their brain still associates that person with a name. If a person looks at Lance in Keith’s body and truly believes that he  _ is  _ Keith, a neural pattern emerges.”

 

“So what you’re saying is that the Anexum will only alter the neural message if it detects both of the patterns?” Keith asked. 

 

“That’s correct.” Coran replied with a proud smile in Keith’s direction. 

 

“Holy shit…” Lance muttered. Keith had to agree. Even with his barely basic understanding of the brain, he could tell that was impressive.

 

“So what? The Nexila would switch bodies with people they were fighting with? What does that accomplish?” Keith asked. 

 

“Well, it’s not just switching bodies, is it?” Coran replied with a knowing smile. “Over time the other functions start to kick in, often times initiated by the people who ordered the  implantation in the first place.”

 

“You mean like how I can feel the pain of my own body? Or how we are stuck together all the time?” Lance chimed in. 

 

“Precisely, my boy. Remember those different alchemic abilities I mentioned? Those are a few of them. The Anexum causes all of those in order to show you life from the other person’s eyes so to speak and they’re supposed to learn to see things from yours. It helps those in conflict gain an understanding of each other while being forced to work together. The goal is for the two sides to come to a compromise.” Coran said. “And from what I heard back in the day, it was very successful.”

 

“That’s great and all, Coran. Really, it is.” Keith said. “But what did you mean when you said we would be stuck like this for awhile?”

 

“Oh, trying to remove an Anexum before it’s completed its run almost always leads to being brain dead...or real dead. One of the two.”

 

“How long does that take?” Lance asked. 

 

“Depends on the people.” Coran replied. “If memory serves me right, I believe the longest reported case was ten years.”

 

“ _ Ten years _ ?!” The two paladins shouted in unison. Keith couldn’t be stuck with Lance’s body for ten years. It had only been a few days and he barely survived that. 

 

“It all depends on who’s controlling the Anexum.” Coran said. “They decided when to move you onto the next phase.” 

 

“Lotor.” Keith said, his voice low and angry. 

 

“Lotor’s behind this?” Coran asked, slightly shocked. “My, you two are in a predicament.” 

 

“But how did he even manage to get them into our heads?” Lance asked slowly. “I mean, we haven’t actually seen the guy in months.”

 

The three were silent as they processed the question. It wasn’t like Lotor had secretly performed brain surgery on them. Keith definitely would’ve noticed that. “How did that Nexila secret team thing get the Anexum into people’s heads?” Keith asked.

 

“Oh, the Nexila have gaping holes on the top of their heads. If you’re tall enough, you can see their brain. It’s quite unsettling…”

 

“Yeah, I’m gonna guess that’s not how Lotor did it.” Lance said, shuddering a little. 

 

The trio was silent for another moment before Lance spoke again. 

 

“Axionite…”

 

“What?” Keith said, looking at him in disbelief. 

 

“That’s how I would do it at least.” Lance said. “I mean, think about it. If you could somehow make a wormhole small enough, you could implant something into a person’s brain.”

 

“Is that possible?” Keith asked, looking at Coran. 

 

Coran stroked his mustache in thought for a few moments before answering. “I suppose...if someone was skilled enough to use the Axionite so precisely then yes. It’s possible.”

 

“But if he used Axionite, wouldn’t that mean he’s addicted to it too?” Lance asked. 

 

“Somehow I doubt Lotor would be stupid enough to do that. He might have used it but I don’t think he would use enough to be addicted.” Keith replied. A lot of things were starting to make sense. They knew what was causing this mess and had a good handle on how it happened in the first place. But none of that was enough to ease the bigger question weighing on Keith’s mind. “Why? Why is he doing this? Why did he take Pidge? Why involve Kivlak? How did he even get his hands on the Anexum?” 

 

“That, my boy,” Coran said, shaking his head in regret. “I don’t have an answer for.”

 

\-----

 

“Care to answer any of that?” Pidge asked, leaning back on their hands and looking at Lotor upside down. “I’m all ears.” 

 

“Do I really seem foolish enough to do that?” Lotor asked, his face expressionless. 

 

Pidge sighed before sitting back up straight and turning to look at him. “No, I guess not. But aren’t you worried that they figured out how you’re pulling this off?” Getting information out of Lotor was an uphill battle Pidge had learned. But they were soon coming to realize that if they asked the right questions, Lotor would give answers that Pidge would add to their mental jigsaw puzzle. Each answer was like being handed a new piece that they didn’t know they needed. 

 

“Not at all.” Lotor replied. “They said it themselves. I alone control the Anexum. They are still in the same situation they were in before. Nothing has changed.” 

 

Pidge decided to drop that line of questioning in place of another. “So I know what your endgame is. You want to make it so Voltron can’t be formed. That makes sense. You even got Shiro out of the picture, even if only for a little while. That’s great. Kudos to that. But your methods seem so…” Pidge paused, looking for the right word. “Overly complicated.”

 

“To you, maybe.” Lotor said, his gaze sliding from the screen to the meet Pidge’s curious one. “I’ve said this before but human emotions are a mystery, both to myself and the rest of the universe. Of course, Alteans come closest by comparison, but even then they’re not the same. I suspect there’s nothing in this universe that quite matches what humans are capable of.”

 

“So what, you want to manipulate Keith and Lance’s emotions? How is that going to impact Voltron?”

 

“To have any impact on Voltron, one must first impact the lions. They are what make up Voltron.” Lotor said, eyes turning back to the screen, signaling the end of their conversation. 

 

Pidge didn’t mind. They had already gotten what they wanted. They added the new puzzle piece, seeing the larger picture a little more clearly. 

 

\-----

 

“We’re back to waiting again.” Lance said from his position on floor of the training deck. He was on his back, staring up at the high ceiling of the room. He felt like he had been hit with whiplash. So much had happened since he had woken up in Keith’s body that it almost seemed unreal. And for what seemed like the first time, they had gotten some real answers. And while those answers were a little hard to swallow at the present moment, they still got him one step closer to getting back into his own body. That being said, Lotor’s motivations were still just as mysterious as when this mess first started. And no matter what angle Lance looked at it from, he just couldn’t see what his endgame was. 

 

“Ya know, you could be doing something useful instead of just lying there.” Keith said from where he was fighting the gladiator some ten feet or so away from Lance’s position on the floor. 

 

“Nah.” Lance replied. “I’m too distracted to train right now.”

 

“Then could you  _ please  _ not just lie there? I’m gonna step on you.” Keith replied, his sword clashing with the metal staff of the gladiator. 

 

“And go where?” Lance asked dryly. 

 

Keith didn’t reply which Lance counted as a win for himself until he felt a blunt pain hit him full force on his forearm. He sat up quickly, glaring daggers at Keith who was still fighting the gladiator. 

 

“What the hell?! You did that on purpose!” 

 

“Funny enough, I didn’t.” Keith replied between heavy pants. “I was distracted by trying not to step on  _ someone  _ and let my guard down.”

 

“Sure, okay.” Lance said flatly. He watched as Keith fought the gladiator, his sword landing a few more good blows before he spun and decapitated the robot. The head flew and landed a couple of feet away before it and the body sunk into the floor. “He had a family, you monster.”

 

“Shut it.” Keith said, deactivating his sword and wiping the sweat away from his forehead. Lance only gave him a devilish smile in return which prompted Keith to roll his eyes. “I was thinking-”

 

“First time for everything.” Lance cut in. 

 

“Lance, I swear to god.” Keith replied, shooting him with a dangerous look. 

 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” Lance said, chuckling at Keith’s irritation. “Go ahead. What were you thinking?”

 

Keith let out an irritated sigh before saying, “I was thinking that Lotor might be trying to tear this team apart.” 

 

“What do you mean?” Lance asked curiously. 

 

“I mean first he took Pidge and now Shiro’s leaving too. If you think about it Voltron is the literal definition of divide and conquer. Maybe that’s what he’s doing.”

 

Lance had to admit he had a point. Their team had certainly started to fall apart since they had switched bodies. “But what’s the point of doing this to us then? If anything, this keeps us together, not tears us apart. And I mean that quite literally.”

 

“That’s the part I can’t figure out.” Keith said quietly, a worried expression crossing his face. “And that’s what scares me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!  
> I really don't like chapters like this because there is just so much exposition that there's just no room for good character development. I feel deprived...  
> BUT, it's a necessary evil to move the plot forward so I hope you can forgive me.   
> Any and all feedback you are willing and able to give is greatly appreciated.   
> Stay safe and I'll see ya next time!
> 
> ~Redjay


	22. Can't Get Him Out of His Head

“So…” Pidge said, drawing out the word and looking innocently at Lotor. “What’s next?”

 

Lotor’s eyes shifted from the screen to the small paladin. “Next?”

 

“Yeah.” Pidge said. “What’s the next phase of the chip-thingies or whatever? I assume you haven’t used their full potential yet.”

 

Lotor was silent for a moment, eyes studying Pidge as if he was contemplating something. “Soon.” He finally said. “You’ll see soon.”

 

An annoyed huff came from Pidge. “How cryptic of you. It’s not like I can warn them or anything.” Pidge crossed their arms.

 

A malicious chuckle came from Lotor, “True. But why would I pass up such a rich opportunity?”

 

Pidge cocked their head to the side in confusion. “What opportunity?”

 

“To study human reactions up close, of course. You’ve given me plenty of interesting data so far.”

 

Pidge didn’t let their surprise show on their face. In truth, they should have expected something like that from him. “I’m not a lab rat.”

 

Lotor’s gaze became confused. “I’m not familiar with that species.”

 

Pidge let out an exasperated “Oh my _god_ …” before turning back to the screen, muttering, “Just forget it.”

 

\-----

 

He was dying. Slowly. Painfully. But he welcomed it. He figured there were worse ways he could go. Battle wound. Sucked into a black hole. Caught in an explosion. So all things considered, death by _feelings_ wasn’t that bad.

 

The emotions themselves weren’t what was killing him. No, they were the simple part, the easy part. He could deal with them. They were almost mathematical in a sense. Keith plus whenever Lance was around (which was all the time) equaled...something? It was hard for Keith to put into words. Sometimes it equaled yearning. Sometimes devotion. Sometimes infatuation. Sometimes none of those. Whatever it was, he could deal with it because it was expected.

 

What he had not expected, and consequently was dying from, was the involuntary reactions that came along with the emotions. He wasn’t sure if the reactions had just started or if he had just gotten really good at repressing them along with how he felt about Lance. Either way, now that Keith had fully accepted just how important Lance was to him, he had lost all control.

 

He found it was worse in the small moments. Moments like Lance moving to his side without any prompting. It was true that he had to be close to Keith, but at least to Keith it seemed like Lance didn’t even realize he was doing it. Moments like those made Keith’s hands go sweaty as his heart started to pick up speed. Or sometimes it was when he would make a comment that was just so _Lance_. Purposely overdramatic but delivered in just the right way as to not seem obnoxious. Moments like those created butterflies in his stomach that wouldn’t calm down until Lance was finished talking. Or sometimes it was one simple touch. A hand on the shoulder, a pat on the back. Those moments would make his skin tingle and his face turn red, forcing Keith to look away.

 

It was hell. It was a miracle that Lance hadn’t figured out what was going on. Or at least Keith thought that he hadn’t. Maybe he had and was just pretending like he hadn’t. Whatever the case, Keith was fairly sure that he was going to end up in a grave sooner or later if something didn’t change.

 

“I’m bored.”

 

Keith flinched at the whine that sounded utterly ridiculous in his own voice. It had been the third time Lance had mentioned that he was bored in the last hour. Keith tried to cover up the flinch by letting out a low hum in response, continuing to scroll through the text on the datapad he was holding. It wasn’t anything particularly interesting. Hunk had asked him to comb through the flight logs of Kivlak’s ship just in case. Mostly it was routine stuff, supply runs and Axionite mining - nothing that pointed to Lotor’s location.

 

Lance was to his right, sprawled out on the lounge couch, head only inches from where Keith was sitting. Keith had noticed that Lance did that a lot, sprawled. It didn’t seem to matter where, he would just make himself comfortable. It was an endearing quality, Keith could admit. However, the whining that came with it he was not so much a fan of.

 

Lance had also been instructed to go through data, but his datapad was abandoned some thirty minutes ago. Keith hadn’t even attempted to tell him to get back to work. It wasn’t worth the hassle.

 

“Keeeeeeeeeith.” Lance whined again, reaching up to tug on his arm.

 

Keith sighed, looking down at indigo eyes that were partly covered by thick stands of dark hair.  “Can I help you?”

 

“I’m bored.” Lance said bluntly.

 

“And that’s my problem because…?” Keith replied, raising an eyebrow.

 

Lance released his arm, letting his hand fall back to rest on his stomach. His gaze drifted back to the ceiling of the room. “Because you’re the only one here.”

 

 _‘Christ.’_ Keith thought. _‘He’s going to be the death of me.’_

 

“Rude.” Lance said, mock irritation on his face.

 

“What’s rude?” Keith asked.

 

Lance huffed. “Don’t ‘what’s rude?’ me. You know what you said.”

 

“Lance, I didn’t say anything.” Keith said, confusion lacing his tone.

 

“You said I was going to be the death of you.” Lance said, still not looking at Keith.

 

“Uh, I never said that.” Keith replied. _‘But I thought it…’_

 

Lance shot up, turning to face Keith with an accusatory look. “You don’t have to say it twice!”

 

“Lance, I haven’t said anything like-” Keith froze, eyes going wide as he connected the dots. _‘Oh no…’_

 

Lance’s lips dropped into a frown, not understanding Keith’s shock. “Oh no what?”

 

“You’re in my head.” Keith whispered, not wanting the words to be true.

 

“Yeah, right. I think I would know if I could suddenly read your mind.” Lance scoffed, eyes rolling.

 

Keith couldn’t help the next train of thought that ran through his head, _‘He’s gonna figure out that I-’_

 

“Nope!” Keith shouted, standing up and tossing the datapad aside. He started pacing back and forth because it wasn’t like he could go anywhere else. “This is not happening. No way. Nuh-uh. I _refuse_ to accept this.”

 

Lance remained silent from his spot on the couch, eyes following Keith as he paced. When Keith glanced at him, he could see Lance’s face scrunched up as if he was concentrating on something.

 

Keith stopped in his tracks. “What are you doing?”

 

“Think something.” Lance said.

 

_‘No way. I’m not just gonna let him read my mind.’_

 

An amused smirk graced Lance’s lips. “I don’t think you have much of a choice, Keithy.”

 

“Fuck.” Keith said, starting to pace again. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, _fuck_.”

 

“So vulgar.” Lance commented, the amused look not falling from his face. “If it makes you feel better, I don’t think I can read _all_ of your thoughts. I only get fragments here and there.”

 

That did make Keith feel better, if only slightly. “Why can’t I read your mind?”

 

Lance shrugged. “Dunno. Guess I’m just lucky.”

 

“No, this is Lotor’s doing.” Keith said, anger overcoming his panic. “I’ll kill him.”

 

“Is it really that bad?” Lance asked, looking slightly hurt.

 

Keith’s heart melted and he found himself backpedaling. “No, it’s not that! It’s just…” Keith trailed off, not wanting to finish the sentence. _‘He can’t know.’_

 

Lance’s gaze grew curious. “I can’t know what?”

 

“Nothing!” Keith shot at him, his face growing hot. This was the worst. He was _definitely_ going to die now.

 

Lance clicked his tongue in irritation. “I can read your thoughts and you’re still as mysterious as ever. How lame.”

 

“Sorry that I’m not okay with you being in my head.” Keith shot at him sarcastically.

 

Lance laughed and gave him a shrug. “At least I’m not bored anymore.”

 

_‘I hate you.’_

 

“Rude.”

 

\-----

 

Pidge was having a hard time breathing. They clutched their stomach as their body shook from laughter. “Holy _shit_!” They somehow managed to choke out between laughs. “This is the greatest thing that’s ever happened!”

 

“I must admit,” Lotor said. “This was not the reaction I was expecting.”

 

“Are you kidding?” Pidge said, trying to catch their breath. “I’ve never seen Keith _that_ frazzled. It was just so perfect...”

 

Lotor didn’t respond as Pidge got ahold of themselves, readjusting their glasses and running a hand through their hair.

 

“I know this is part of your evil scheme or whatever.” Pidge said, a grin on their face. “But _thank you_. Seriously. I needed this.”

 

“I don’t understand humans.” Was all Lotor said in response.

 

\-----

 

“There’s gotta be something you can do to stop this.” Keith practically begged Coran.

 

“Sorry, my boy. I’m afraid I’ve never heard of anything that can counter the effects of an Anexum.”

 

_‘I’m going to die.’_

 

Lance couldn’t help the chuckle that rose in his throat. This was certainly the most freaked out Lance had ever seen him. It had been Keith who had demanded that they ask Coran if he knew a way to stop Lance’s new mind reading ability. And since Lance wasn’t the one whose thoughts were being invaded, he couldn’t exactly say no.

 

In truth he was relieved that he was able to read Keith’s thoughts and not the other way around. Keith didn’t need to know the kind of doubts that went through his head. Those were better left unspoken and unshared. It was just less complicated that way.

 

“Please tell me we are close to finding Lotor.” Keith said, desperation in his voice.

 

“We’re working on it.” Coran replied, his voice as chipper as ever.

 

Keith groaned, shoulders slumping in defeat. _‘There’s no way I can hide it from him.’_

 

That caught Lance’s attention. It was the second time he had thought something like that. Just what was Keith hiding? More than that, why did Keith feel the need to hide something from him? He was trustworthy, or at least he thought he was. Lance gave a sidelong glance to the distraught looking Keith as they left Coran alone to focus on his work. He had thought Keith and him had gotten closer lately, especially since the swap. He had thought that Keith was becoming more comfortable with him. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe he had misread the signs. Maybe Keith was only putting up with him because he had to. That thought stung more than Lance cared to admit.

 

_‘He’s upset.’_

 

Lance’s eyes flashed over to meet Keith’s. He hadn’t realized he was being that obvious. “I’m not upset…” Lance said weakly. He knew that Keith wouldn’t believe him.

 

Keith gave him a soft look before saying, “Just because I can’t read your mind doesn’t mean I don’t know what you’re thinking. Everybody had secrets, Lance. There’s just some things I don’t want anybody to know. I don’t want you in my head not because it’s _you_. It’s because you’re not _me_.”

 

Lance didn’t know what to say to that. He had no idea when Keith had learned to say the right thing exactly when Lance needed to hear it, but he had. And now Lance could only stare at Keith, a million words hanging on the tip of his tongue.

 

_‘Is he mad? He doesn’t look mad. Why won’t he say something? Oh shit, did I mess up? I need to fix this.’_

 

“No!” Lance managed to blurt out, placing a hand on Keith’s shoulder and stopping him in his tracks. “I’m not mad, I swear. Just surprised, that’s all.”

 

“Surprised?”

 

“Yeah.” Lance said, offering him a smile. “Picking up social cues has never been your strong suit. I must be rubbing off on you.”

 

_‘Something’s rubbing off on me, but I don’t think it’s social cues…’_

 

“What the hell is _that_ supposed to mean?” Lance asked, trying to decide if he should be offended or not.

 

There was no way he could miss how Keith’s face grew red almost instantaneously. “Stay out of my head!” He sputtered before he was walking away, leaving Lance to catch up, still confused as to what Keith meant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!  
> Any and all feedback you are willing and able to give is greatly appreciated.  
> Stay safe and I'll see ya next time!
> 
> ~Redjay


	23. A Little Payback

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so a couple of things I noticed from reading the comments on the last chapter:  
> 1) A lot of you guys have this fear of mind readers and at first I was like why? But then I thought about it some more and realized that holy shit...yeah, having your mind read would be terrifying. So thanks for that.   
> 2) So many of you really want the mind reading to flip so Keith can see Lance's insecurities and help him with them (and of course that would lead to some fluffy moments) and I'm sorry to burst your bubble but the reason I didn't do that was because that would be way too easy for our space boys. I said this was gonna be a slow burn and you best believe I'm gonna make it as slow as possible. Count on it.

“So how exactly does it work?” Pidge asked, gazing curiously at the new screen that had appeared next to the one that displayed Lance and Keith. It had rows of text with time stamps underneath each new entry that appeared. The two most recent read:  _ ‘Is he mad? He doesn’t look mad. Why won’t he say something? Oh shit, did I mess up? I need to fix this.’  _ and  _ ‘Something’s rubbing off on me, but I don’t think it’s social cues…’.  _

 

“I modified the Anexum before implanting them.” Lotor explained, a slight arrogance in his voice. “Simply put, I hacked the signal that transfers the thought from Keith’s head to Lance’s and-”

 

“You run it through an algorithm that translates the neurological messages into real words?” Pidge asked excitedly.  

 

“Yes…” Lotor said hesitantly, giving Pidge a suspicious look. 

 

“That’s ingenious!” Pidge gushed, bouncing slightly in their excitement. “You  _ have  _ to show me the algorithm!” 

 

“You do remember that you’re my prisoner, yes?” Lotor asked, an almost amused look on his face. 

 

“I don’t see your point.” Pidge replied.

 

Lotor stared at Pidge for a moment, eyes turning cautious. 

 

“Please?” Pidge said, clasping their hands together. “I won’t stop asking until you show me.”

 

Lotor let out a tired sigh, clearly not used to dealing with human teenagers. He waved his hand towards one of the consoles in the room. “The algorithm runs through there. Just don’t mess with it. I’ll know.” 

 

“Thank you!” Pidge said, hurrying over to the console. Once their back was turned to Lotor, a devious smirk appeared on their face.  _ ‘Time to get to work.’ _

 

\-----

 

Keith was a simple man. He liked simple things. Sleeping in late. Completing a tough workout. A hot shower. Being in a different body didn’t change that. He still liked simple things. And right now the simple thing he liked was staring just a little too long in the mirror. 

 

It wasn’t his fault, okay? He wasn’t the one that plucked him out of his own body and put him in the tall, lean one he was in now. And while there was some definite downsides to having to see things from Lance’s perspective, there was also a few perks. And if one of those perks just so happened to be deep blue eyes, soft brown hair, and sun-kissed skin...well, could he really be blamed for indulging just slightly? 

 

Besides, it wasn’t like he was doing anything...unbecoming of himself. He stayed far far  _ far  _ away from that territory for obvious reasons. In Lance’s body or his own, there were just certain lines one should never cross under any circumstance. Keith understood that and he was positive Lance did too. 

 

But there was no harm in admiring a face that just so happened to be his for the time being. Keith had discovered that he had become something like a professional at denial. He had never noticed how much he had avoided looking at Lance before his epiphany. He had done it so much since the team had formed that it had become like second nature. But now? Now things were very different.

Or rather, they had been. 

 

The moment that Keith had realized nothing was private for him anymore, he did everything he could to avoid catching a glimpse of himself in a reflective surface. He knew that stopping the natural flow of his thoughts would be impossible if he allowed himself time to admire his appearance. And so it was with a steely resolve that Keith kept careful control over where he looked. 

 

Lance hadn’t seemed to notice Keith’s struggle. He was too busy trying to rile Keith up every chance he got, more than a little drunk off of his newfound power. It had started with Lance just commenting on every thought that he picked up from Keith, aimed towards him or no. 

 

_ ‘I’m almost out of food goo. Remember to fill it next time I’m in the kitchen.’ _

 

“I told you to stop putting it in my hair!” Lance snapped at him. “How many times do I have to tell you that soft hair doesn’t necessarily mean healthy hair?” 

 

That had sparked a thirty minute debate between the two. 

 

_ ‘I need to work on my defense. I should go to the training deck.’ _

 

“Buddy, if you think I’m gonna walk all the way down to the training deck just so you can beat up some robots you’ve got another thing coming.”

 

Keith scoffed, “Lazy.”

 

“No, I just know how to relax. Something you should really learn how to do.” 

 

The debate lasted forty-five minutes that time. 

 

Soon, Lance changed tactics. He started to ask questions that Keith would really rather not answer. 

 

“What are you most afraid of?” Lance had asked out of the blue. 

 

What Keith said was “I don’t have a worst fear.” 

 

What Keith thought was  _ ‘Spiders are hellspawn. Thank god there’s no spiders in space. Or what if there is? Space-spiders?’ _

 

Lance had burst out laughing, clutching his stomach with one hand and placing another on Keith’s shoulder. “Oh my god! Keith, ace pilot, paladin of Voltron, part Galra, defender of the freaking universe is afraid of spiders! You just can’t make this shit up!”

 

The anger Keith felt was unparalleled. 

 

Keith was close to his breaking point when Lance had switched to his newest form of torture - trying to get Keith to spill the beans on who he liked. 

 

The two were in Lance’s room which had become their shared room for the time being. They had dragged the covers from Keith’s room and made a makeshift bed for him on the floor. Keith didn’t mind sleeping on the floor, a thought that Lance had heard and then declared that he could take the floor every night since Lance hated the floor. 

 

Sifting through the data had been a slow process. When Hunk had told them the they probably wouldn’t get any results from the data mining program he had set up until the next morning, the two had decided to retire for the night. 

 

Keith had been adjusting the blankets around his feet when Lance had suddenly leaned into his space from his bed, a sly smirk on his face. “Is it someone human?” 

 

_ ‘Yes.’ _

 

“I’m not going to answer that.”

 

“Too late. You already did.” Lance said with a victorious smile, leaning away again. 

 

Keith groaned, trying to suppress his irritation. “Can we please not talk about it?”

 

“Oh, c’mon. It’s not like I’m asking you to tell me your deepest, darkest secret.” Lance said, falling back onto his bed with a soft plop. 

 

“It’s still personal.” Keith said, hoping that would be enough to shut him up.

 

He should’ve known better. 

 

“Is it someone I know?”

 

_ ‘Pretty well.’ _

 

“Really?” Lance asked, surprised. He turned his head to look at Keith who had laid down, head resting against his pillow and eyes glued to the ceiling. 

 

“It’s not like my thoughts can lie.” Keith replied bitterly. 

 

“Hmm...true.” Lance said. “Have you thought about telling them?”

 

“No way.” Keith said a little too quickly, shaking his head. “With everything that’s going on? I wouldn’t do that to them. There’s too much at stake.”

 

Lance humed in response, sounding tired. “Maybe,” He said after a moment. “That’s exactly why you should tell them.”

 

“You think?” 

 

“Yeah,” Lance replied. “I mean if it were me, I wouldn’t want to have any regrets if things turn out...badly. It doesn’t have to be a big deal or anything. You could just hit them with a cheesy pick-up line or something.”

 

Keith chuckled. “Do I really seem like the kinda person that uses pick-up lines?”

 

“No,” Lance admitted, laughing softly. “But pick-up lines are safe. Either they work and you’re in the clear, or they don’t and you can just play it off as a joke. Both ways save you from embarrassment. That’s the secret power of pick-up lines.” 

 

Keith was silent, processing. It made sense, but at the same time it really wasn’t his style. Plus, he wasn’t like Lance. He didn’t have a repertoire of pick-up lines ready to go at the drop of a hat. He could think of one and it wasn’t even a good one. It was more of an insult than a pick-up line. 

 

“Let’s hear it.” Lance said. 

 

“What?” 

 

“Your one pick-up line.” Lance said. “I want to hear it.” 

 

“Not a chance.” Keith replied. 

 

Lance sighed. “You know I’ll just keep asking until you tell me, willingly or not. Wouldn’t you much rather have it be on your own terms?”

 

Keith knew that Lance was right. It was probably better to just get it over with. Keith let out a tired sigh. “Fine.”

 

Keith got up, trying his best to not trip over anything as he moved towards Lance’s bed and sat down on the edge of it. Lance had sat up, the confusion evident on his face despite the dark of the room. 

 

“What are you doing?” He asked. 

 

“Telling you my pick-up line.” Keith answered, giving Lance a mischievous look. Sure, he pretty much had to tell Lance his pick-up line, but there’s was nothing stopping him from having a little fun with it. Consider it pay-back for having to deal with Lance’s stupid mind reading powers. 

 

“U-Um, okay.” Lance stuttered out, voice sounding scared. 

 

Keith leaned towards Lance, bringing his face dangerously close of the other’s. Minty breath escaped Lance’s mouth in nervous puffs and ghosted across Keith’s face. He didn’t break eye contact with Lance as he dropped his voice down low, bringing out a gruffness that he hadn’t been aware Lance had until now, “Are you from Missouri? ‘Cause I’m in miss-our-i whenever you’re around.”

 

Silence. Neither of them moved. Keith could see Lance processing, trying to figure out exactly what Keith had said. 

 

“You ass!” Lance finally said, eyes narrowing in anger. He grabbed his pillow and didn’t hesitate to hit Keith upside the head with it. Keith couldn’t help but laugh, Lance’s reaction being better than he could have imagined. “That’s not a pick-up line! That’s just...just…”

 

“Just what?” Keith asked, still chuckling. 

 

“Mean!” Lance finished, hitting Keith with the pillow again. “You’re so mean!” 

 

“Maybe that’ll teach you to mind your own business.” Keith said, blocking another pillow attack from Lance. 

 

“You’re the worst!” Lance spat at him. 

 

“Maybe.” Keith said amusedly, standing up from Lance’s bed and moving back to his own. “But at least I’m not nosy.”

 

Lance sputtered in offense for moment before saying, “I wish you could read my mind because then you would know just how much I hate you.”

 

“Something I can live with, I’m sure.” Keith said, earning another offended noise from Lance. Keith smiled to himself, glad that Lance probably couldn’t see it in the dark.  _ ‘He’s kinda adorable when he’s all worked up like that.’ _

 

Keith froze, horror settling into the pit of his stomach. He hadn’t meant to think that. Where did it even come from? Keith didn’t breathe as he waited to see if Lance had caught it or not. 

 

“Whatever.” Lance said. “Let’s just go to sleep.” 

 

Keith let out an exhale. Luck was with him tonight. He’d have to be more careful in the future. Lance couldn’t know. No matter what Lance thought, a burden like that would only be a distraction. 

 

\-----

 

Lance lay awake listening to Keith’s soft breathing. He had fallen asleep some time ago, but Lance had found it almost impossible to quiet his own mind. All he could think about was how close Keith had gotten, how Lance had seemed to lose control of his heart, how he wanted Keith to reach out and pull Lance close like he had during their heart-to-heart in the infirmary. 

 

It was torture. 

 

It was torture because he knew that Keith probably didn’t want the same thing. Keith liked someone, after all. Someone that wasn’t him, he was sure. And yeah,  _ maybe  _ Lance had realized that he had hoped to hear his own name in Keith’s thoughts. And  _ maybe  _ there was a sinking feeling in him when Keith had said Lance knew the person pretty well. But Lance was a mature adult. He wouldn’t let something like this bring him down. 

  
And there _definitely_ wasn’t a single tear that fell down his face as he turned onto his side, facing away from Keith. Lance couldn’t help but secretly wish that whoever Keith liked didn’t like him back.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!  
> If you couldn't tell, reading all of your comments is a lot of fun for me. I really appreciate all of them. So feel free to keep 'em coming!  
> Stay safe and I'll see ya next time!
> 
> ~Redjay


	24. What's Been Learned

“Okay, new rule.” Lance said, wincing. “You have to sleep on the bed. I get the floor. My back is  _ killing _ me…”

 

“I feel fine.” Keith replied casually. 

 

“Yeah, thanks, I know.” Lance said dryly before stretching his arms over his head in hopes that it would alleviate some of the pain. It didn’t work as well as he hoped. 

 

The two were on their way to the bridge, having been called there by Allura not even a half an hour ago. Lance had awoken to an ache in his back and a stiffness in his joints. At first he had been confused. He rarely felt this shitty when waking up. But then it hit him. He felt the pain of his own body. And last night his body slept on the hard, metal flooring of his room. Perfect. 

 

“Will you be okay to fight?” Keith asked, glancing sideways at him as they walked through the halls of the castle. “If we find Lotor today, we’ll probably end up in some firefight sooner or later.”

 

“It always ends in a firefight…” Lance muttered grumpily to himself. “Yeah, I’ll be fine. I’m a big boy. I can handle a little back pain.”

 

“You’ve been complaining about it a lot for someone who can ‘handle it.’” Keith replied, his tone slightly teasing. 

 

Lance huffed, shooting at glare at Keith. “Shut up. I said I’ll  _ handle it. _ ”

 

That drew a chuckle from Keith. “Okay, okay. Whatever you say.”

 

_ ‘Should make sure I take the brunt of the fighting today if we do end up in a firefight. Don’t want him to get hurt.’ _

 

“Keith!” Lance barked at his companion. “I’ll be fine! Don’t baby me. Besides, there’s more chance that I’ll get hurt if you take the brunt of the fighting. Remember the whole pain exchange thing?”

 

“Of course I do.” Keith replied, rolling his eyes. “I’m just saying that it’s dangerous to go into battle without being one hundred percent.” 

 

“It’s dangerous to go into battle, period.” Lance replied sharply. “Look, it’s sweet that you’re worried, really. But I don’t need you to worry. I’m more than capable of holding my own.”

 

_ ‘Did he just call me sweet? When have I ever been sweet?’ _

 

“Think what you will.” Lance said with a shrug, wincing at the movement slightly. “But you’ve softened up since we switched bodies. You’re more like a lovable stray mutt just looking for a home than the lone wolf you want everyone to believe you are.”

 

“Take that back.” Keith said, sounding offended. “Right now.”

 

“Nope. No can do. It’s the truth. You’re a big ol’ softie.” Lance replied, shaking his head. And he was. Lance had noticed that Keith seemed harder to provoke, more willing to think before he acted, less opposed to accepting help. But it was more than that. There was a new tenderness to Keith’s actions. His looks weren’t quite as harsh, the usual fierceness replaced with a caution, a hesitation. His words weren’t as bitter. He spoke with a carefulness in his voice, like he was afraid that he would say the wrong thing. Even when he was trying to rile Lance up, there was just  _ something  _ there that hadn’t been there before. Ever since their heart-to-heart, Keith had changed, and Lance would be lying if he said that didn’t cause his heart to beat just the tiniest bit faster. 

 

“Am not.”

 

“Are too. You  _ hugged  _ me, Keith. Without being forced to.” 

 

“You were crying! What was I supposed to do?”  

 

“I dunno, but it was real sweet and you can’t take it back.” 

 

_ ‘Who said I wanted to?’ _

 

Lance couldn’t stop the laugh that came bubbling out of him. “Oh my  _ god. _ ” Lance said in between laughing and trying to catch his breath. “Thank you for proving my point.”

 

Keith only grumbled in response, quickening his pace so Lance had to jog to catch up with him. They were nearing the bridge. Lance could see that the door was open, the sound of Allura’s voice coming from inside. He couldn’t make out what she was saying, but he figured he’d find out soon enough. 

 

As they entered the room, the two were met with the remainder of the team. Coran stood at his console, looking like he was reading through lines of data about something Lance probably didn’t understand. Hunk and Allura were conversing towards the center of the room, both the expressions on their faces looking serious. 

 

“Stop!” Hunk yelled when he caught sight of them.

 

Lance froze midstep, not really trying to hide the look of surprise on his face. He briefly noticed that Keith had stopped too, his expression mirroring Lance’s own. 

 

“Something wrong?” Lance asked slowly. 

 

Hunk narrowed his eyes as he approached the two paladins, but didn’t say anything. Lance leaned back a little as Hunk drew closer, shrinking under his intense gaze. Hunk’s eyes scanned Lance, moving up and down his borrowed body. 

 

“Hunk? You okay?” Keith asked from Lance’s side, looking slightly confused. 

 

“Shush. I’m concentrating.” Hunk replied, moving to examine Keith. 

 

Keith and Lance shared a look, Lance giving a tiny shrug. It was probably best to just let Hunk do his thing. 

 

“Hmm...yeah, okay.” Hunk said, taking a step back and nodding. “This is super freaky. I can’t even tell you’re in different bodies.”

 

“You know?” Lance asked, his voice rising in surprise. 

 

“Coran explained everything before you guys got here. Something about not being able to when you’re around.” Hunk replied. 

 

“The Anexum range isn’t strong enough to reach the entire castle all at once!” Coran chimed in from across the room, looking over his shoulder at them. 

 

“So this is why you’ve been acting all weird lately?” Allura asked. “I remember Shiro saying that he thought you guys seemed off.”

 

“Pretty much.” Lance replied. “It’s been pretty weird for us too. But it turns out that I’m really good at playing Keith.”

 

“Oh, give us a demonstration!” Hunk said, eyes shining in anticipation. 

 

“I don’t think-” Keith started but was cut off by Lance who had crossed his arms over his chest, shifted his weight to one side, and gave Hunk a disapproving look. 

 

“I don’t think that’s necessary.” Lance made sure to make his voice slightly annoyed, like he was on the verge of rolling his eyes and walking away.

 

“Ho-ly crow!” Hunk said. “You  _ are  _ good. I couldn’t even tell the difference!”

 

“Right?!” Lance replied excitedly.

 

_ ‘My Lance is better…’ _

 

“Oh? You think so?” Lance said, giving Keith a smug look. 

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about…” Keith muttered, looking away from him. 

 

“What’s going on?” Hunk asked, confused. 

 

“I can read this guy’s mind.” Lance saing, gesturing to Keith. “It’s pretty awesome.”

 

“Not the word I would use.” Keith cut in. 

 

“And he thinks his Lance is better than my Keith.” Lance continued, ignoring the comment. 

 

“Read his mind? Really?” Allura asked, sounding intrigued. 

 

“Yep.” Lance replied, popping the ‘p’. “He hates it.”

 

“Woah, woah, woah.” Hunk said, holding up a hand. “I think the mind reading thing can wait. I want to see Keith pretending to be Lance.”

 

“You have been seeing it.” Keith said, his tone slightly irritated. “I’ve literally been acting like him since we swapped.” 

 

“Yeah, but I wasn’t paying attention then.” Hunk argued. 

 

“I would also like to see.” Allura said, an amused look on her face. 

 

“Not gonna happen.” Keith said, crossing his arms in defiance. 

 

“He’s too scared.” Lance said, shaking his head. “I would know. I can read his mind.” He shot a smirk at Keith, knowing he would catch the lie. 

 

“I didn’t think that!” Keith spat at Lance, gaze steely. 

 

“Your word against mine.” Lance replied sweetly. “Guess you’ll just have to prove you’re not a coward.” 

 

The glare sent his direction was fiery, an anger that was just so  _ Keith.  _ “Fine.” Keith said, the word clipped.

 

Lance gave him a smug look. “Break a leg.” 

 

“Fuck you.”

 

“This is super weird…” He heard Hunk mutter, clearly not used to seeing Lance’s body so fiesty or Keith’s so childish. 

 

Lance chuckled, but didn’t say anything else, letting Keith take the floor. 

 

_ ‘Okay, shoulders dropped, muscles loose...just relax. Lance is always relaxed.’  _

 

A small smile appeared on his face at Keith’s thoughts. That hadn’t been something he’d taught Keith in their crash course. That was all Keith. He was much more observant than Lance gave him credit for.

 

He watched as Keith walked over to Allura, throwing a arm over her shoulders and leaning against her. “I’m so boooored.” Keith said, drawing out the word in a whine.

 

“Lance, I’m not your babysitter.” Allura said, suppressing a smile as she played along. 

 

“Ugghhh…” Keith said, letting go of her and sinking to the floor until he was sprawled on his back. “But there’s nothing to doooo.” 

 

“You could make yourself useful and help Coran clean out the healing pods. They’ve been used quite a lot lately.” Allura replied with a small laugh. 

 

“But that’s so booooring…” Keith said, his voice whiner than before. 

 

“Okay, you can stop now.” Lance cut in, hands clenched into fists, irritation clawing at his insides. 

 

“No, no, no.” Hunk said, clearly amused. “Let him keep going. He’s really good!” 

 

“Yeah, Keith!” Keith called, lifting his head to look at Lance. “Don’t be such a party pooper.” 

 

“I am  _ not- _ ”

 

“Sorry,” Keith cut him off, dropping his head back to the floor. “I don’t talk to party poopers. Take any concerns up with my assistant.”

 

“Keith, I swear-”

 

“Not to spoil your fun.” Coran called from across the room. “But we’ve got Lotor’s location.

 

The atmosphere in the room shifted almost instantaneously. Lance felt the anger drain from him, his thoughts turning immediately to Pidge. The others were the same. All of their expressions becoming serious. Keith stood up from the floor, his posture no longer holding any of the looseness that it had just moments before. 

 

“Where?” Keith asked, approaching the black chair and turning on his console. Lance followed him, looking over Keith’s shoulder at the information that Coran had found. 

 

“Not too far.” Coran said. “He’s only about twenty galaxies away.”

 

“The Mereon system?” Allura asked, looking at her own console. “Any idea why he’s there, Coran?”

 

“I can only guess, but the Mereon system emits powerful radiation which can mess with long-range scanners. It’s a good place to hang out if you don’t want to be found.”  

 

“I bet Pidge is there.” Keith said. “We should head out right away.”

 

“We need a plan first.” Lance said in disagreement. “Lotor’s smart. He’s probably already two steps ahead. We can’t just go in blasting. Pidge could get killed.”

 

“Keith-er, no. Lance is right.” Hunk said. “Lotor put those things in your heads for a reason. Going in without a plan is dangerous.”

 

“Okay, then.” Keith replied, tone still serious. “Any ideas?”

 

No one said anything, each of them processing the situation. Lance knew Lotor was probably waiting for them. He’d even bet that Lotor  _ wanted  _ them to find him. He had chosen that spot for a reason beyond just messing with the long-range scanners. But what? Lance didn’t know. He didn’t know how they were going to get Pidge back without walking right into a trap. 

 

Wait…

 

Oh…

 

“Shit, I’ve got an idea.” Lance said, looking around at his team.

 

“Care to share?” Keith asked. 

 

“Yeah, uh, so Lotor probably has a trap laid for us. I mean, that’s classic Lotor. He probably  _ expects  _ us to figure out some way around it. Try to be unpredictable.”

 

“Yeah, so?” Hunk said. 

 

“Well, what if we just...be predictable?”

 

“What, you mean like let Lotor’s plan play out on purpose?” Keith asked. 

 

“Exactly. Listen, here’s what we’ll do…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!  
> Just one last batch of silliness before it's serious time again.   
> Any and all feedback you are willing and able to give is greatly appreciated!  
> Stay Safe and I'll see ya next time!
> 
> ~Redjay


End file.
